The Story of Alex
by Jeremi963
Summary: This is a story of a program designed specifically to protect Aelita. This is how he becomes a member of the group, and continues his job as Aelita's protector. It starts out in the second season after Aelita finds out she is a human. This will be complete with several XANA attacks. AxJ UxY OCxOC (Note: I recommend that you read my other story, The Journal of John)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**AN: This story has a weird Point of View. It was written in first person from my character's perspective with omniscience to give you how the other characters are feeling (unless stated otherwise). This will have long chapters but I urge you to read. Please review. I will continue this story anyway, but I want to know what you think of it. This episode takes place during the second season, before Aelita finds out she is a human.**

**(Aelita's 3rd person Limited POV)**

Aelita woke up. Awoken by another dream, not a nightmare, the first good dream she had in a while. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She tried really hard to remember what the dream was about. Looking in the mirror, she noticed all the bags from sleep deprivation under her eyes were gone. She knew she had to have had a good night sleep. She walked out and walked towards her room. She paused as she reached for the door knob. She wanted to tell Jeremie, but without knowing what it was about, it would be hard to explain. She put her hand back down to her side. She knew that she wanted just to be with him. She looked down the hall in the direction of the stairs to the boys' dormitories. She had a feeling he would enjoy her company, too.

Aelita knocked on Jeremie's door.

"It's open," she heard from the other side. She walked into Jeremie's room. He turned around in his chair, having been working late into the night for Aelita's antivirus. He stood up, arms outstretched, expecting another restless night infected with horrific dreams. She shook her head, indicating that she was fine. Jeremie put his arms down, face stricken with confusion.

"I had a dream," she said. Jeremie put his arms up again, insisting she come to him, his face more confused than ever.

"It was a good dream," she said.

"Oh," said Jeremie, a hint of unbelief in his voice, "What was it about?"

"That's just it, I don't remember. I woke up, not from shock, but from happiness. If that makes sense..." She said, the understanding of how ridiculous this sounded settling in.

"Of course it does. But I'm afraid that I'm not much help without you remembering what it was." Jeremie responded. Aelita nodded and looked around the room. She looked at his computer, noticing she had inturpted his work.

"You should go to sleep," she said. Jeremie remembered how many times he had heard her say that while was working on her materialization. He smiled and agreed. He lied down in his bed, smiling at her. She then lied down beside him. As soon as he put his arm around her shoulder, she remembered her dream. She jumped out of bed. He looked up at her, his earlier look of confusion flooding his face again.

"I remember, now!" she exclaimed with extreme excitement. "I was sitting in a tower with a boy who appeared to be blind." she started, Jeremie sitting up to get a better position. "We were playing some sort of game, then I won and he pretended to fight with me. He chased me around the bottom platform and when he caught me, we fell on the platform and rolled around, him tickling me. Then the tower shook, and we stopped rolling. He stood, helping me to my feet. He grabbed my hand and ran out of the tower and into the Mountain sector. There was a megatank aiming at us. It shot and he dived to push me out of the way, but before it could hit him, he teleported and stabbed it with a small stick looking thing with a bladed tip. Not a knife or sword or anything like that because after the megatank devirtualized, the blade disappeared from the end and it became longer, like a staff. He motioned me over and sat down in a meditational position. He stood up and said 'We have to go'. He then shortened his staff and picked me up on his back and ran. After some time some Bloks, Kankrolots, and Hornets appeared. He put me down behind a rock and the tip of his staff changed again. He then shot the hornets out of the air. He elongated his staff again just in time to deflect several shots. He swung at a Kankrolot sending it into the digital sea. He teleported into the middle of the group and changed the tip of his staff yet again and hit the ground. All of the surrounding monsters were shocked and stunned. He stabbed several of the monsters before the remaining monsters regained their ability to move. He shot the another Kankrolot then changed his staff yet again. This time it changed into a grapnel hook. He shot at the last Kankrolot and tossed it at a Blok. The Kankrolot exploded sending the Blok over the edge. He walked back to me and carried me to the tower. I started to cry but he put his arms around me to comfort me."

Aelita could tell Jeremie was having trouble deciphering this as 'just another dream' or 'the kind of dream Aelita had about events that had taken place at another unknown time'.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**AN: This is the long chapter I was referring to earlier. Please read and review.**

**(3rd person omniscient)**

Ulrich and Odd sat at their usual table for breakfast the next day.

"Man, I'm hungry," said Odd. Not a second later than he had sat down, he began to dig into his food. Crystal, Aelita's room-mate, walked over with her breakfast. "Are you ganna eat that?" Odd asked, mouth full of scrambled eggs.

"As a matter-of-fact, I am." She responded, eyeing Odd, eyeing her food. She moved in between him and her plate as if he would pounce at any moment. Yumi was next to join the group at their table.

"Yes, Odd, I do plan on eating my breakfast," she said, before Odd even had time to ask. Ulrich laughed at the look on Odd's face, sad at only being able to eat enough food, after buttering up to the lunch lady, to suffice two people.

Aelita and Jeremie walked in next. No one questioned why they always walk in together. They already knew. They sat down with their breakfast. Crystal was the first to speak up. "More bad dreams?"

"No, not bad..." she replied. Everyone stopped eating, including Odd, and stared at her.

"Well, what were they about?" Ulrich asked. Sissy walked by, followed by her typical 'social' group. They were particularly interested in hearing what they had to say, slowing down for to better their hearing.

"I want to tell you, but in private. I don't want any eavesdroppers," Aelita whispered, looking at Sissy from the corner of her eye until she had sat down at the adjacent table. "Let's meet in Jeremie's room after first period." They looked back at her, very interested in what she had to say, except Odd, however, who was already back to eating his breakfast.

Ulrich, Odd, and Crystal were having a pretty hard time paying attention in math class, wondering what her dream was about and why she had trouble talking about it in front of others. Most of her other dreams were about simple things that happened in dreams and could be easily explained, such as being chased by wolves. Jeremie had no problem concentrating in math, seeing as how he already knew her dream. However, he also knew what the lesson was about. Yumi was also having the same problem in French class.

Without the ability to focus, Crystal thought of how she became a member of the group. It seemed to take her mind off of math and the dream. It was an attack. The school was collapsing from an earthquake. Aelita had decide to take her with her instead of leave her at the school. The Satalite tower fell from the top of chemistry building. She dove and pushed her out of the way. She was able to escape with only a broken leg, snapped from having landed on it sideways. They walked her to the factory. She was starting to bleed out by the time they had arrived. "Take her to the scanners," Jeremie had said. "She will be fine on Lyoko." _They could have let me die,_ she thought. I am grateful for that. _I try to show it every day._

Back in Jeremie's room, Aelita had finished telling her story. "Do you think he is real?" Yumi asked.

"It is possible," Aelita said.

"I have the ability to create memory compartments that don't show on a scan. Why wouldn't someone else?" Jeremie added.

"Well, we have to go find out!" Crystal stated with a sense that it was obvious.

"How?" Ulrich asked. "Jeremie just said that they wouldn't show up on a scan. We have no way of finding him, even if he is real."

"I have an idea..." Aelita said softly.

**(Alex first person with omniscience)**

I sat in my isolated area, telling Franz about another of Aelita's adventures. It entertained him, since he lacked the ability, or more of the energy, to see for himself. During about the middle of the story, I fell silent. I could feel Aelita had just been virtualized on Lyoko.I tightened the blindfold around by eyes,and hacked their communications to see if the Operator, 'Jeremie' as they called him, would be talking to her. No tower was activated and none of her friends had been virtualized with her so it seemed odd that she would have been virtualized at this time. I meditated and watched her, running through the forest. XANA spawned three Krabs in her path. She stood there, as if wanting to be devirtualized, even though I was sure that she knew what that would mean. They all simultaneously charged their lasers pointed at her. I couldn't just stand by and allow her to be lost forever. I teleported just as they shot, deflecting all but one with my staff, which hit me in the shoulder. One of the Krabs charged its laser towards me. Wasting no time I swiped the front legs of the nearest Krab from below it and flipped onto its back. The laser hit dead center of the Krab's eye. Jumping back to the ground, I used my stun tip and directly impacted the Krab that had shot at me. As the third Krab charged its laser, I managed to teleport under it and stab it through the bottom with my blade tip. I then vaulted forward and kicked the remaining Krab off the side, into the digital sea.

I walked back to Aelita, only to find I had been fooled. No sooner than I had turned to look at her, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich had been virtualized. I lowered my staff and prepared for another teleportation back to my area, but I was stopped by Aelita's voice.

"Stop! Wait! They are here to help you. We can help you get out of here."

"Aelita," I said. "I am sure that you have found out by now that you are human, and that is why you were able to become... _Normal_..." I stressed the last word, knowing that there was no way that someone like me could ever become such thing.

"Then you help us. You could create yourself a body, Jeremie could create your human identity, and you could live among us."

I had to admit, mentally, that it was possible. Using Carthage's panel, I would be able to craft myself a human form. After such an event, I would be able to live like a normal human, no longer tethered to the virtual world. I would still never be normal. Because I am an actual program, I would keep my Lyoko abilities in the real world. I would need to keep those abilities under control. I student couldn't be sitting in a class then randomly teleport away.

"... It is possible..." I said.

"Great!" I heard from a voice that seemed to be projected everywhere. "I will get started on it tonight. What would you like your name to be?"

"I was programmed under the name 'The Alex Project', Alex meaning 'protector of the world'.

"OK. And since you were programmed by Franz Hopper, Aelita's father, your name will be Alex Stones, being Aelita's brother.

"Sounds good to me. I will go start working on my human form. I would ask assistance for protection while I am working, however, it will take a very long time."

"It is no trouble. They will guard you. Speaking of which, I have been to busy watching Aelita that I forgot to virtualize Crystal."

Moments later, she fell. I never thought anyone could be so beautiful. Well, I didn't technically see her, I could see her aura. I quickly fell to my knees, bowing. "Aelita, you never told me you were companions with a royal," If it were possible for an avatar to blush, she would have done it.

"Get up!" Aelita said this. Crystal was unable to speak. I stood and looked around, embarrassed that I hadn't known how to act in human company. Being a human might be more challenging than expected.

"Head south" Jeremie called. "Here come your vehicles." There vehicles were virtualized in the same moment he said that.

"Hey Jeremie, why can't you virtualize us on the ground like that?" Odd said.

"Not the time, Odd." Jeremie responded. Odd jumped on his OverBoard and rode off.

"Last one there has to buy my dinner!" he yelled back. Ulrich and Aelita jumped on the OverBike and Yumi and Crystal shared the OverWing. The drove off after Odd. I meditated, seeing the landscape at the far end of the forest sector, then teleporting to the edge. Meanwhile, Odd was passed by both Yumi and Ulrich. Aelita waved, taunting Odd.

"Looks like you will be buying your own meal!" Ulrich yelled behind him. Ulrich arrived at the end of the sector. Followed by the others.

Odd had a saddened look on his face. "And to think I had a head start..."

"SCIPIO" Jeremi said, entering the code into the computer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**AN: Yet another long chapter. Please read. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**

**(Alex first person)**

The transporter appeared, engulfing us for the trip to the center of Carthage. We arrived, the world seeming to spin around us. The corridor opened, giving us a pathway to the rest of the sector. "The timer is started. You have one minute. GO!" Jeremie called, ordering the group into action. We arrived in the main room. I could see the key to stop the clock. I didn't run towards it though, nor did I teleport. I pulled my staff out and changed its tip to laser to shoot at the monsters that would be guarding my path. They crawled up the side of the bridge. My first action was to hit one in the head, knocking it back down to be devirtualized. Odd shot one that was about to shoot Yumi. Yumi tossed a fan at one that was about to shoot Ulrich. Ulrich cut the head off of one that was about to shoot Crystal. Crystal pulled a set of assassin-like blades from under her sleeves and tossed one at a monster that was about to shoot me. I smiled at her. I admired their ability to work together as a team.

"You are starting to run low on time!" Jeremie called. I turned to see the key. Platforms were rising and lowering on the path. I ran toward it, using my staff to vault onto one of the platforms. I followed it up by flipping several times. I flipped off the last platform and reached for the key. I pushed it and walked back down to the rest of the group where they had picked off three more monsters. Another corridor had opened. We walked the path.

"Why didn't you just teleport?" Odd asked.

"I like the idea of being normal. I don't just use my abilities every chance I get. It makes things too easy. I like to have fun with it." I responded.

The rest of the group showed a look of pity on their faces.

"How about the way you see? You can't see like we can, can you?" Odd asked another question.

"Odd, stop questioning him!" Ulrich said, more forceful than loud shooting him a dangerous look.

"No, it is absolutly fine. I feel things. The outlines of the landscape, for one. The aura of people like you. The towers. The consols in the towers and here. And last, the residual after image of the monsters. The monsters move, but it is my job to calculate their movement to figure out where they are at that given moment of attack. It is kinda like seeing, but not with my eyes."

We walked on in silence until we reached the console. I pulled open the data for dematerialization to input myself a human form. I started working immediately.

"Look out, Mantas." Jeremie said, completely unworried of any type of threat. As I continued to work, their vehicles spawned. They quickly mounted their vehicles and rode off towards their enemies. They came in sight of four mantas. Odd shot but missed. Ulrich cut one right down the middle of its head with his sword. Yumi tossed a fan, hitting another right in the center of its body. Crystal jumped off the OverWing and landed on another Manta. She stabbed it, stood, and backflipped off just as Ulrich drove under her. Odd, determined to kill a Manta, rode his OverBoard towards a Manta and flipped over it, riding upside down he shot and hit it dead in the center of the eye. I found it hard to focus while watching their abilities.

Two hours later, I had finished. The group had taken fifteen more Mantas and only Odd had been devirtualized. I was ready to be materialized as soon as my identity as a human had been created. Each of them had said goodbye, followed by Jeremie devirtualizing them. They left the factory and back to their dorms. I teleported back to the area for housing The giant ball of energy that was Franz Hopper and myself. I told him the entire story. We sat in further silence until he spoke.

"Thank you, Alex."

"For what?"

"Protecting her. After the computer was restarted, I lost the energy to leave this place. Never leave her. Keep her safe."

"Always..."

**(Jeremie third person limited POV)**

Jeremie sat at the computer in his room working on Alex's identity. He had put off Aelita's antivirus in order to get Alex's files finished as fast as possible. _He finished programming a human body in two hours_, he thought. _If anyone would be helpful with the antivirus, it would be him. He has to know something about programming._

Aelita walked in. Jeremie turned in his seat to look at her. "We couldn't sleep," she said. Jeremie looked confused at the word 'we' until she walked into his room, followed by Crystal.

"How long will it take?" Crystal asked, hiding the embarrassment of what happened the last day in her voice.

"Maybe a week. I still have to register him in the school and hack the governments records to add his social security number to their database." Jeremie responded, with a touch of exhaustion in his voice. Crystal fell backwards onto the bed after the word 'week'. Jeremie turned around in his chair to begin work again.

After an hour of discussion about various topics, Crystal stood and said "I'm tired. I'm going back to bed. 'Night." She walked out and back towards the girls' dormitories.

"She seemed to be very worried about Alex's materialization..." Aelita said. Jeremie knew where she was going with this. He had noticed it too.

"Yah. Hopefully their relationship will me more successful than Ulrich and Yumi's." Aelita laughed.

"You mean, you think they will be together? They only met, not even twelve hours ago."

"It's like you said. She was really interested in his materialization. Not to mention that he called her a 'royal'." Aelita nodded.

"I guess so." Aelita laughed as she remembered when they had first seen each other, then she thought about the first time she had seen Jeremie. "Did you fall in love with me at first sight?"

"If not I'd have just turned the computer off after our first attack. Of course I did." Aelita smiled. She stood and walked to him, his face still towards the computer. She put her arms around him. "Thanks," she said.

He picked his hands off the keyboard and on her arms. "I'd do it again. Even with the threat of XANA." He turned his chair around. He had decided he was done working for the night.

**(Ulrich third person limited POV)**

"What do you think about him?" Odd asked, both him and Ulrich entirely ridden of sleep.

"He is definitely nice for a guy who spent his entire life in a computer," Ulrich said. "He also appeared to have emotions. Franz Hopper must have been a very good programmer."

"Yah. The ability for an artificial intelligence t-" Odd started, but was interrupted by Ulrich

"Don't call him that, Odd. He protected Aelita for years when no one else could. He deserves more respect than that." Ulrich ordered. Odd looked sorry and ashamed. "As you were saying..."

"It is hard for a _computer program_ to feel emotions." Odd said. Ulrich nodded, grateful that he understood how to respect someone.

"I hope Jeremie finishes his identity fast. He would be a great assistance against XANA." Ulrich said, remembering how easily he had picked off those three Krabs.

"Yeah, but not only is he a good fighter. He _made himself a body in two hours_! There is no way Jeremie could do that. Could you imagine how hard that must have been!" Odd said, putting emphasis on words that would express how difficult it would be.

"No, I can't. But think about this: he isn't like Aelita. Aelita was actually human. She just doesn't remember any of it. He has all of his memories and experiences that he had before the computer was turned off. However, he has no idea about food or air or smell or anything like that. He has been locked in a prison of his mentality, limited to the senses available in Lyoko." Ulrich said, thinking about how excited Alex would be to experience human things. Odd thought of it, too.

_I don't know how I could live if I had been inside of Lyoko without for that long. No food. No sleep._ Odd thought. _Speaking of which-_ "I'm starting to get tired."

"Me too."

"Good night"

**(Alex first person)**

I spent all of my time fighting XANA or learning about the real world. One week later there had been a total of four attacks. XANA was, again, not about to let another subject of Lyoko simply leave. He was attacking them every chance he had. Not giving Jeremie the time he had wanted to work on his identity. He had done it, though. The group had decided to give me the news the next day. They contacted me.

"Alex... W-w-we finished your identity. We are ready." Jeremie said. The look on the rest of the groups face was pure excitement. I expressed as much happiness as I knew how. I could finally live with them in reality. "We will be at the factory later today to free you. Be ready."

"I will be."

Four hours later, the group arrived at the factory. "Alex, are you there?"

"Yes, I am"

"I am sending Crystal, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich. They will protect the tower while you are materialized. Be in the Desert sector. Near the southern way-tower." I teleported. It was the only way to leave my hidden memory unit. I arrived at the designated tower. Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd arrived first, followed by Crystal. I walked into the tower to await my materialization.

**(Third person omniscient)**

Alex stepped onto the platform to wait for Jeremie to activate CODE: EARTH.

"Monsters are coming! A lot of them!" Jeremie called to the warriors. Megatanks, Krabs, Tarantulas and Hornets arrived. This was the most monsters they have ever seen at one time. They surrounded the tower. "I'll try to hurry!"

The group sprang into action. Ulrich ran towards a Megatank. He slid under the eye, just as it had opened and put his sword up to slice through its eye. Yumi threw her fans at Krabs. One fan was deflected by a laser, the other went straight through the top of its body. Odd jumped onto another Krab, using its body as a perch to shoot several Hornets. Crystal jumped over a tarantula, stabing it through the top before continuing to run. She jumped off of a Krab and onto the top of a Megatank, stabbing that monster, too. Jeremie was entering the required information that he needed for the program to work. The rest of the group continued fighting. Jumping onto monsters, stabbing some, shooting others, some falling off the edge.

"CODE: EARTH" Jeremie called. The tower swirled around Alex. He could feel himself become unleeched from Lyoko. The group looked towards the tower. It shook violently. Yumi was the first to be devirtualized, not paying attention. Crystal gained focus just in time to see the hornet that shot her. Odd dove in front of Ulrich to save a shot. It was pointless though. Ulrich turned to see Odd be devirtualized. He looked up at the Krab that shot Odd. He ran toward it, weapon ready. He jumped to stab it, but didn't see the Tarantula aiming at him. He was the next to be devirtualized.

Alex felt pain. The first of his senses he had gained. The pain of devirtualization was beginning to reach to point of becoming unbearable.

He woke in the scanner, just as the doors opened.

He was surrounded by the others. Crystal caught him as he fell out, exhausted by the energy that was taken from him in order to complete the process.

A smile spread across his face. "I can see..." were the first words he said and the last ones he had for another week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**AN: The entire purpose of this chapter is to express relations between characters. Again, it is long, but please read and review.**

**(Alex first person)**

I woke up in the control room, sitting next to the elevator door. Ulrich sat in the chair.

"Wow, I never thought you would wake up. There is food if your hungry." Ulrich said. I could see the food, but I was still to tired to move. I teleported to it. Ulrich looked at me as if I was a ghost or a thing in a horror film. He quickly changed his expression. "How did you do that?" he asked, astonished that I could use my abilities outside of Lyoko. I picked an apple out of the paper bag that sat next to his chair.

"When Jeremie makes a specter, it has heightened abilities, such as strength and speed. I function the same way as a programmed specter, except I am no longer tied to Lyoko. The only difference is Jeremie doesn't quite know how to program the abilities that we have on Lyoko into a specter, so I keep the same abilities, speed and strength that I have on Lyoko." I explained. I took a bite out of my apple. I established another sense. The taste seemed to cause a vibration of happiness through my body. I wasted no time to finish the rest of the contents of the bag. Two sandwiches, three apples, a bowl of soup, and a croissant. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes.

"You eat faster than Odd," he said. We laughed. I wiped my mouth.

"I have a question for you. Why are you the only one here? Where are the others?" I said,

"Jeremie wanted someone to watch you. Let the others know when you woke up. It just so happened to be my shift."

"And who supplied the food?"

"Each of us gave a little."

"Remind me to tell them 'thank you'." Ulrich laughed.

"It was no problem."

After another thirty minutes, I gained my strength to stand. "I want to look around," I said. "See the lab."

"Well they won't get out of class for another half hour, so why not?" Ulrich said as he stood. He walked to the door of the elevator and opened it. First he took me to see the scanner room. It didn't seem to meet the numerical requirements with, now, six people who had to travel to Lyoko, making a total of two trips. Next we went to the computer room. It set me on edge and made me uncomfortable. It was the prison for me for over ten years. He took me to see the factory. About that time, Jeremie and the others slid down their ropes.

"Your early," Ulrich said.

"Yeah, we got out of class early to meet him," Jeremie responded. "Where were you guys going?"

"He wanted to see the place," Ulrich said. "I was just showing him around."

"Do you like it? It isn't the most professional workplace, but I think it looks better this way. It keeps away wondering civilians." Jeremie said.

"I agree. But I think it is a nice place," I said.

"Well, ready for your first day of school?" Ulrich asked turning to face me.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I told him. We walked back out to the bridge in an unofficial two person wide line with Odd pulling up the rear, alone. Jeremie stood by Aelita, Ulrich by Yumi, followed by Crystal and me. The rest of the group told me of how to act around other people. About how to eat, (at which Ulrich commented about my messy eating) how and when to speak, and other things like that. Occasionally on the walk back, my hand would brush against Crystal's. I looked ahead and observed Jeremie holding Aelita's hand and Ulrich holding Yumi's. I considered this as _normal_ and grasped Crystal's. I turned to look at her. She smiled back at me, slightly tightening her grip. We reached the ladder out of the sewers. I followed the rest of the group out and towards the school. We reached the principal's office and Jeremie pointed to the door, indicating for me to follow Aelita in.

"Ah, you must be Aelita's brother, Alex. My name is Mr. Delmas. Aelita and Odd have told me so much about you." He said, sticking his hand forwards. Knowing what this ment from my research on human behaviors, I grabbed his hand and shook it. "Well, you will be bunking in Jeremie Belpois's room," he said releasing my hand and sitting back down. "Here is the room key. Aelita please inform Jeremie to show Alex where he will be staying and tell Jim to bring a bed into Mr. Belpois's room." Aelita smiled at him and I bowed, in order to express his authority, before we walked out.

The rest of the group waited outside of the office. "Let's show him around. I need to go to the gym to tell Jim to bring a bed to your room. Might as well show him the whole place while we are at it." We walked by the gym. Jeremie reminded me not to use my excess amounts of speed and strength in here. Next we walked to the cafeteria. I told the group that this would most likely be my favorite room. We continued to walk around the school, showing me my classes on my schedule. Afterwards, We walked back to my and Jeremie's room. Another bed, similar to Jeremie's, was against the wall opposite his. I layed back on it. Each person took a seat, some on the beds, some in the floor, and Odd sat in Jeremie's chair. We talked for a while. Mostly about how my classes would be and about the school. When the subject of the gym arrived, I remembered that only Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich had known about my abilities. In order to explain about them, first I had to change the subject. I teleported to the other bed. Odd nearly fell backwards out of his seat. They each began to question 'What just happened' or 'How are you able to do that'. Jeremie explained that I was still able to use my abilities freely outside of Lyoko.

"What else can you do, Alex?" Odd asked.

"Well, I can outrun you for one," I said. Everyone laughed, except Odd. "And I can see anywhere. Which explains how I was able to watch you all on Lyoko."

Night came and the others left to go to their dorms or, in Yumi's case, home. Jeremie turned the lights off and we climbed into our beds.

I awoke the next morning, feeling no longer tired as I was the last night. Sleep also seemed to bring relief of the previous day's stress. We walked to the cafeteria. The group was perfectly timed and walked through the line together. I took some of everything, as did Odd. We each sat at a table. Odd picked up his fork and looked at me.

"You may be able to outrun me, but can you eat faster than me?" He said challenging me.

"Let's find out," I said, accepting his challenge.

"Winner gets the pot," Ulrich said, putting his apple in the center of the table. Each of the others followed suit and put something in that they weren't going to eat. "GO!"

I picked up my food, not bothering to take breaks for breathing. I was half way done when Odd had just finished his first apple and started on his croissant. "Having trouble, Odd?" I said, taunting him.

"No, are you!?" He yelled, throwing his fork at my wrist. I immediately dropped my spoon. I picked up his spoon and tossed it back at him hitting his croissant back down to his plate. I quickly gulped my tomato soup, finishing my food. Aelita pushed the pot toward me. I ate as much as I could, still leaving a single apple. Odd eyed my prize. I rolled the remaining food toward him. He picked it up, smiling a "thank you" at me, and took a bite out of his apple.

"Well, I am going to go back to my room to work on Aelita's antivirus. Coming Aelita?" Jeremie said.

"Sure."

"I'll come, too," Crystal said.

"I have to go to French class," Yumi said. "See you."

After they had left, Odd, Ulrich, and myself sat at our table. "I have a question," I said after the others had walked through the doors. "You seem to have a pretty good relationship with Yumi, right Ulrich." He blushed. Odd laughed.

"Umm, sure, why." he said, his face turning a deep red.

"Well, I wanna say something to Crystal, but I'm not exactly sure how," I said.

Odd laughed. "You don't want to ask Ulrich about girls, he gets nervous just thinking about Yumi. I'm your guy."

"You mean, you have a successful relationship?" It was Ulrich's turn to laugh.

"Well... No..." he said.

"Then I think I would rather have Ulrich's advice." I said.

"Well, I don't think you need any advice. You seemed to do good on your own," Ulrich said.

"Okay," I said, thinking about how easy it was to just reach for her hand.

I walked back to my dorm. Jeremie was working on his computer. Aelita and Crystal working on their laptop. I sat next to Crystal.

"Umm, Crystal... Would you like to... umm... Have something to eat with me for lunch..." I said, knowing I sounded really nervous. Jeremie knocked something over on his desk and Aelita almost dropped her laptop.

"Are you asking me on a date?" She asked, attempting to hold in a smile.

"Umm... Yeah..." I said.

"Sure. Where?"

"I'm not familiar with any places to eat around here. I was hoping you would know of a place."

"Okay. Pick me up at my dorm at noon," she said. She leaned over and kissed my cheek. I liked her lips. They gave my cheek warmth.

"Ummm... Okay..." I stood, nearly falling over, and walked to Odd and Ulrich's room.

"I think I did it..." I said when I had arrived.

"Good. You are already doing better than Ulrich. Ulrich can never bring himself to say the words." Odd said with a grin stretching his face.

**(Crystal third person limited)**

Alex walked Crystal back down the girls' dormitories.

"That was fun," she said. "Thanks." She leaned over and kissed his cheek again.

"You're welcome. I had fun, too." he told her, smiling and rubbing his cheek. "I have to go get ready for gym chemistry now. Bye."

"Me too. Bye." Crystal walked into her room. She looked around and noticed Aelita wasn't there. She fell backwards onto her bed, smiling thinking about Alex. His pure white-blonde hair and his dark blue eyes. She got ready for class and walked to the chemistry room. She sat in her assigned seat, next to Aelita.

"How did it go?" she asked, a small smile on her face.

"Better than I could have expected, at least for a program," she responded. Both of them smiled from ear to ear. Aelita knew she had more fun than she was willing to admit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**AN: This is my first XANA Attack. Don't forget to Read and Review.**

**(Alex first person)**

I arrived in science class and sat next to Jeremie. The bell rang and the rest of the students took their seats.

The teacher, Mrs. Hertz, walked in. "It appears we have a new student in the class. Please stand and introduce yourself," she said.

"Alex Stones, Aelita's brother," I told her. I sat back into my seat.

"Thank you. I assume in your previous school you have learned basic laws of physics?" she asked me.

"No, Mrs. Hertz, I have a complete understanding of all the laws of physics."

"Oh," she said. "Well then, this will just be review for you. Everyone pull out your textbooks and turn to chapter eleven."

Jeremie's laptop beeped inside of his bag. Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, Crystal, and I each looked at Jeremie. No sooner than Aelita had mouthed the word 'XANA' at him, a tank of Methane gas caught fire. The school had a gas heater to heat the air, causing every air vent in the school was starting to blow fire. The entire building was catching fire.

"Let's go!" Odd yelled, grabbing Ulrich by the sleeve. I grabbed Jeremie, helping him to his feet. We ran out the door. I looked back, the students and teacher cowering below their desks.

"We need to help them!" I yelled ahead. Jeremie nodded agreement.

"Come on!" he yelled, pulling on the arm of Mrs. Hertz. The students followed in line, Jeremie and myself in the lead and the rest following holding the rear. We ran through the hallways, looking for an escape that wasn't blocked by fire or blocked by debris.

"Let's go!" I ordered them. They ran through the halls behind us. We reached the outside, other class's students and teachers already outside. "Try to call Yumi," I told Ulrich. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number.

"No answer. I have to go make sure she is okay," he said, putting his phone back in his pocket. "I'll call if something goes wrong."

"Something already went wrong," Odd joked.

Ulrich ran back towards the building as we turned towards the forest. We arrived at the sewer hole. I pulled off the lid and climbed in, the rest of the group behind me. The others mounted their skateboard or scooter. I followed with my extreme speed. We reached the end and climbed the ladder out. We ran across the bridge and jumped down the ropes. Jeremie pushed the elevator button. Jeremie got out at the control room and the rest of us continued to the scanner room.

"I'm starting the virtualization process."

**(Third person Omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Odd, Crystal, and Alex spawned first, followed by Aelita. The mountain region stretched out beneath them. Odd grabbed his wrist and aimed around. Crystal slid the assassin blades into her hands. Alex twirled his staff around in a figure-eight. "Go northwest," Jeremie called. The group instantly ran in the given direction.A Megatank rolled into their pathway.

"Spread out!" Alex ordered. Each of them took a position around the Megatank and waited for it to open. When it did, it wasted no time to shoot Crystal. She fell right off the edge of the world. Alex ran towards it and stabbed it with his bladed tip.

"Don't worry. She will be fine," Alex said. The others looked at Alex, wondering how this would ever be fine. Odd and Aelita awaited to beam of light to signal her permanent virtualization, but it didn't come.

**[Earlier that same day on Alex and Crystal's date]**

"So what powers do you have?" Alex asked, trying to make conversation.

"I don't know. As far as I know, none," she replied, looking at Alex as if she had known she was useless on Lyoko.

"Well let's go find out," he said. Alex walked to the counter of the restaurant they were eating at, paid for their meal, and walked her out the door to the factory.

They took the elevator down to the control room. Alex pulled open a scan window.

"Come with me, please," he told her. They took the elevator down and climbed into a scanner. The computer scanned their virtual memory. They stepped out of the scanner

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Checking your files to see what differ from another Lyoko warrior." Alex told her. They awaited for the scan to finish, which only took about two minutes. "Well, it seems you have a heal life points command at the input of 'heal'. But it looks like you can only give them to other people.

"Cool. Anything else?"

"Yeah! Look at this!" Alex said his eyes widening.

"What is it?"

"This is the devirtualization file of me," Alex said pointing to a folder on the screen. "And here is a devirtualization file of you." he said pointing to the other.

"So? What is the difference?"

"In my folder, there is a remove all data command for when I touch the digital sea. Your folder has a simple rematierialize command."

"What does that mean?"

"You can never be trapped in Lyoko."

**[The Lab]**

Crystal stepped out of the scanner, exhausted from a devirtualization. She rode the elevator back up to the top floor.

"What happened?" Jeremie asked, turning in his chair. hardly believing she was right in front of him.

"It's complicated," she said, then began to explain it to him.

**[School]**

Ulrich ran through the halls, his hand covering his mouth. He slammed open the door to Yumi's class. She had her back against the wall, blocked in by several flaming desks. Ulrich covered his hands with his sleaves and pushed a desk out-of-the-way. Yumi ran into his arms.

"Ulrich. It is hard for me to walk... The smoke..." Yumi said. Ulrich put Yumi's arm around his shoulder and walked her out of the class and toward the door.

"I'm not just going to leave you here."

**[Lyoko]**

"Crystal is fine. Deactivate the tower," Jeremie ordered. The group ran towards the tower. They eventually came in sight of it. "It's blocked pretty heavily, guys," Jeremie said.

"We can see that, Einstein," Odd said, observing the several Krabs and Tarantulas

"What do you suggest we do?" Aelita asked.

"Go," Alex said, teleporting into action. Odd jumped over the rock, aiming at the battlefield. Alex appeared and knocked the legs from beneath a Krab. Odd shot the Krab perfectly in its eye. Alex changed a tip of his staff to laser tip and shot a Tarantula. Odd shot at another Krab, only to damage it. Alex backflipped onto the top of it and stabbed it with his bladed tip. Odd jumped off of the cliff he was standing on and onto a Krab. He grabbed the Krab with one hand and shot at a Tarantula before falling off of the Krab. The Krab charged its laser and shot Odd in the Chest. Alex threw his staff javelin style at it then teleported to where Aelita was hiding.

"We need to get you to the tower," he said before lifting her onto his back. He jumped over the side of the cliff and landed where his staff was. He sat Aelita down and picked it up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the tower. A Krab charged its laser at them. Odd jumped in front of it just as it shot. As he was being devirtualized, he shot a laser arrow at it.

"Get Aelita to the tower," he said, the last of his body changing into digital pixels. Alex ran towards the tower, pulling Aelita. He pushed her forward into the tower. Two Tarantulas shot him in the body and head.

**[School]**

Ulrich had found the hall with an exit. He started to run. The ceiling had just caved in when they had reached for the handle. Yumi's body drooped. Ulrich dragged her body into a closet just before he had passed out from the smoke inhalation.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita raised to the top floor of the tower. She put her hand on the console. "CODE: LYOKO..." she said.

**[The Lab]**

"RETURN TO THE PAST NOW!" Jeremie yelled. Time stopped and a bright bubble of light emitted from the super computer.

**(Alex first person)**

Mrs. Hertz walked in to class. "It appears we have a new student in the class. Please stand and introduce yourself," she said.

"Alex Stones, Aelita's brother," I told her. I sat back into my seat. "And I just wanted to say that I noticed your equation on the board does not include the values assuming that the particals of light are traveling at the speed of light. The equation E=MC squared does not include the velocity of particals." She turned to observe her error.

"Why, yes. You're right," she said. I smiled, so did the rest of my group.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**(Alex first person)**

I woke up, the only person in my dorm. I got dressed and walked down to the cafeteria. "Hey. What's going on?" I asked, appearently interupting their conversation.

"Talking about another trip to Carthage," Jeremie explained. I hurried through the line, eager to hear about their conversation. "I need more data for the antivirus."

_It's pointless,_ I thought. I already knew Aelita wasn't infected. I simply went along with their 'antivirus' until I could find a way to get rid of XANA and free Franz.

"So. After class?" Yumi asked.

"Of course," Jeremie told her. We ate the rest of breakfast going over the details. The group already knew that the instructions were mostly for Aelita and I, the only ones who could use the console effectively. After we finished, Yumi went to math class and the rest of us walked to gym.

"Today we will be doing the mile run," Jim said. I remembered how strictly Jeremie had told me not to use my abilities in public. We each took a position on the line. _Well, I can't just give myself a 15 minute mile, _I thought. "GO!" Jim yelled. We took off the line. I tried to keep a reasonable pace, next to Ulrich who was leading the group. Eventually, others stopped to take a breath. Ulrich and I continued to run ahead of the others, neither stopping to take a break. We finished with in exactly six minutes. Ulrich had sweat beading his forehead. I, however, was completely fine, having not been stressed during the workout. After the class had finished the mile, we were free to leave class. We walked back to Jeremie and my dorm to wait for Yumi to get out of class. Jeremie pulled open a three-dimisional window of Lyoko. We considered battle stratagies and mission details. Yumi walked into the dorm.

"Ready to go?" Yumi asked.

"Yep," Jeremie said. The entire group stood and walked out the door, Jeremie being the last one out, and walked outside. Ulrich looked around, checking for onlookers, then pulled up the lid. We climbed down the manhole and reached the bottom. The group didn't mount their skateboards and scooters, though. They looked at me, readying to run. Jeremie pulled his hands from behind his back. He had been carrying a skateboard. The entire group smiled with him. He handed it to me.

"Thanks," I said, smiling widly with appreciation. I put it on the ground and prepared for riding. The others mounted their vehicles and we rode. We reached the bridge and walked to the lab. We slid down our ropes and rode the elevator down to the control room. Jeremie took his seat.

"XANA is being quiet, and he had an attack just yesterday. Now seems like a pretty good time to do this," he said. He turned to face Yumi. "I'll explain since you weren't with us when we discussed. Alex suggested we divide into groups. You, Odd, and Ulrich will be a scouting party and Aeltia, Crystal, and Alex will be in another group."

"Good for me," she said. We rode the elevator to the scanner room.

"Scouting party is going first. I'll spawn you in the desert region."

**(Third person omniscient)**

Party two had just spawned in the forest region. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were in a circle around them, looking for any kind of hostility. "Go South," Jeremie told the group. The scouting party instantly ran in the direction informed, the second group following. A Krab walked into their path.

"I've got this!" Ulrich yelled. "Supersprint!" He dashed toward it and jumped into the air, stabbing it with his Katana. We reached the end of the sector.

"SCIPIO" Jeremie said, entering the access code into the computer. The transporter appeared, picking everyone up and carrying everyone to the center of Carthage. "The timer is started."

The scouting party ran first, in order to get started on clearing the room. Alex grabbed Aelita's hand and pulled her into the next room, Crystal right in front of him. They approached the room. Ulrich jumped in front of the hall, deflecting the shot with his sword. Alex lengthened his staff and ran toward the field of battle. He stabbed a Creeper in the head. Ulrich cut the head off of another monster. Odd jumped onto a monster and tossed it off the side of its perch. A monster charged at Aelita. Crystal threw a knife at it, continuing to walk Aelita threw the continual destruction. Yumi noticed another monster aiming at Aelita. She threw one fan at the laser and another at the monster.

"Hit the key!" Jeremie ordered. Ulrich ran alongside Odd, deflecting the continual shots. Odd jumped and climbed on the wall. The group continued to kill monsters as Odd climbed.

"3... 2... 1..." Odd hit the key stopping the clock and the pedistals of the monsters. The group guarded Aelita, deflecting continuous shots. They reached the console, the vehicles already in place. The three of the scouting group mounted their vehicles and waited for monsters to attack. A chasing creeper followed them out onto the bridge. Alex swung at its head, knocking it down from where they had been standing.

"Careful, Mantas are spawning," Jeremie said. The layer of Carthage bubbled and several dozen Mantas spawned." XANA obviously doesn't want us to get this information. The scouting squad rode toward the attacking monsters. Ulrich jumped off of his OverBike and onto a flying Manta, stabbed it, and jumped off, back to his vehicle. Odd shot and destroyed several of the enemies. Yumi was having a slightly harder time than the others, trying to control her vehicle and attack the enemies. Alex used his laser tip and shot several of them that had flied by. Crystal had attacked both Mantas and Creepers that had wandered in behind them.

Alex fell over and grabbed his head. "XANA is attacking!" he yelled to the others. "Aelita, hurry we have to go."

"Almost done, I am sending the data now." Jeremie recieved the information he needed.

"Now go!" Jeremie ordered. The first group drove their vehicles into the main room. A Creeper shot the OverBike. Ulrich fell and landed a few feet from the monster that had destroyed his vehicle. He swipe kicked its arms out from under it, causing it to fall flat on its face. Ulrich then pulled out his sword and stabbed it in the head, devirtualizing it.

**[The Lab]**

"AHHHHHHHH!" Jeremie yelled, a Creeper climbing up the ladder that led down to the scanner room. He grabbed a piece of PVC pipe and hit it several times. After it fell over, he stabbed it with the end. Jeremie walked back to the computer. "Guys, I found out XANA's attack! He modified the devirtualization file. If you devirtualize one of his monsters, they spawn in the real world. Try not to kill anything."

**[Lyoko]**

"How are we supposed to get Aelita to the tower without killing any monsters?" Odd asked.

"I don't know. Think of something."

They traveled back in the transporter to the forest sector. The activated tower was within sight as soon as they had stepped out of the transporter. They went to it and hid behind a tree.

"We need to distract them long enough for Aelita to get to the tower," Alex told them. "Let's go." He motioned to the others and told Aelita to stay put until the coast was clear. Odd ran out first. A Megatank rolled toward him, causing him to run. As he appoached the edge, he slid down. He caught onto the terrain and the Megatank rolled over the side. He crawled under the landscape and onto the other side. Alex went out next. He ran towards a Krab, dodging lasers, and hit its two back legs out from under it, then kicked it backwards into the digital sea. Yumi, Ulrich, and Crystal ran out together, kicking several Kankrolots, and knocking several monsters into the digital sea. Aelita seized the opprotunity and ran toward tower. A Krab walked into her path and began to charge its laser. Aelita slid under it, and continued to run at her target. She reached the inside and began to float up the virtual elevator. She pushed her hand against the console and typed in the code.

"Devirtualizing." Jeremie said

**(Alex first person)**

We sat in the lab. Jeremie talked about how useless the data was.

"It didn't give me anything useful. I thought it might give me some information on XANA and how we could stop the virus, but..." He opened the data. "It contains memory files and such. It doesn't help anything."

We walked back to school and went to our dorms, each exhausted.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**AN: Please review. I really want to know what you guys think about my story.**

**(Alex first person)**

I teleported back to the room. I spent all of the night before programming me a vehicle, like the others. After I was done, I scanned myself and went to Lyoko to talk to Franz. I told him another story. Stories seemed to be a natural talent. I told him about my materialization, my friends, my dorm, my classes, my date, and the missions we had been on since the last time we had talked.

"Don't forget about me, Alex," he said when I had finished talking.

"What are you talking about?"

"I will need to get out, someday. But not until XANA has been turned off. I need you to never give up. Do anything you have to get me out of here and back to Aelita."

"I will, sir."

Back in my room, I had just layed down when Jeremie's alarm had gone off.

"Come on. Get up," he said, dragging my covers off of my bed.

"Can we use a return to the past? I'm still sleepy," I joked. Jeremie laughed.

"No, but you can sleep through breakfast," Jeremie said. I rolled out of bed. Jeremie laughed again. "That's what I thought." We walked to the cafeteria, the rest of the group aready waiting.

"Tired?" Yumi asked me.

"Yah. I was up all night making myself a vehicle, like yours," I said. Jeremie looked at me.

"It took me weeks just to make one of them. How did you get it done so fast?" He asked.

"Well, I took your schematics for one and changed the body frame and added a landscape algorithm," I said.

"So, basically, you just built off of Jeremie's work," Odd asked.

"Yah," I said.

"I wanna see it," Crystal said.

"Well, we will go after class, as usual," Jeremie said.

Math class was exceptionally boring, today. Jeremie, Aelita, and I sat back and did nothing. Ulrich and Crystal paid attention and learned. Odd... tried. After class, we met up with Yumi and walked out towards the park. I checked to see if anyone was looking and pulled up the lid to the sewers. We rode through the sewers, slowing down only when needed to jump a water-cross. We arrived at the ladder leading to the bridge. We climbed, some in more of a hurry than others, and ran to the factory. We took the elevator down to the control room.

"Go down to the scanners," Jeremie said. "I'll virtualize you in the mountain region."

**(Third person omniscient)**

Alex, Crystal, and Aelita spawned next to Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi.

"Here come your vehicles," Jeremie said. Odd's OverBoard spawned next to him. He backflipped onto it. Ulrich sat backwards on his OverBike. Yumi sat on the edge of her OverWing. Alex's car spawned next to him. It wasn't very big. The back ended right behind the front seats and the front was short, it didn't have doors, just open places to get in, and it had a T-top. It also had spiky tires. Aelita and Jeremie remembered Alex talking about a 'landscape algorithm'. Alex climbed in the driver seat, one hand on the wheel, the other on a gearshift. Crystal sat next to him. He eased next to the others.

"Death race, anyone?" He asked.

"I'm in," Ulrich said.

"Me too," Odd said.

"I guess," Yumi said.

"I have an idea," Aelita said. "Let's partner up. Crystal doesn't have a vehicle, so it wouldn't be right to have her sit out. I'll ride with Yumi and Ulrich and Odd can team up,"

"Sounds fair," Alex said, tightening his blindfold. Aelita climbed on the OverWing. Ulrich and Odd high-fived. Crystal smiled at Alex.

"First one to the edge of the sector wins. Go," Jeremie said. Each person floored their vehicles. Yumi pulled out a fan and threw it at Ulrich. He deflected it with his sword. Odd flew over Ulrich and shot at Yumi. She deflected the shots with another fan. Alex and Crystal rode next to Ulrich. Crystal and Ulrich attacked eachother. Aelita created an ice piller infront of Alex's vehicle. Crystal grabbed Ulrich's arm as Alex drove away from the piller Ulrich freed his arm and slowed down in order to not be hit by the obstruction, then sped up to be on Alex's side. As Ulrich pulled out his sword, Alex shifted gears. The spikes on his tires went into the rest of the tire, then they shifted to become horizontal and two more pedals appeared. Alex stepped on one of the new pedals and flew into the air just as Ulrich swung at him. Yumi threw another fan at Ulrich. It hit his arm.

"First hit," Jeremie said. Odd was dodging several ice spike Aelita was creating above him. He shot Yumi in the leg, causing her to mess up driving, putting Aelita confused. "Hold up, guys. XANA attack!"

"Figures," Odd said. "He always picks the best times, doesn't he?" Alex landed his vehicle next to the others.

"It's in the desert sector. Either way-tower you take, it is going to take you two sectors to get there. The closest one is East." Odd and Ulrich turned around and went ahead of the others followed by Yumi and Aelita then Alex and Crystal.

"What is he doing this time?" Aelita asked.

"I don't know. I will try searching the news. If it is anything impressive, that is where it will be." A group of Kankrolots walked out onto the flat. Ulrich stuck his blade out, killing two. Odd shot another two. Yumi threw a fan at the last, killing it, too. Three Krabs came in from behind.

"Hurry up and get her to the tower. We can catch up," Alex said, pulling over and stepping out of the car with Crystal. Alex teleported and knocked the front legs out from under it and continued to run at the next. Crystal ran at the fallen Krab and threw a knife at it after she had used it as a jumping stool and landed on another. Alex stabbed one through the bottom and Crystal stabbed it through the eye. Alex walked back to the car with Crystal and put the car in flying gear and flew toward the others.

Ulrich was deflecting shots, guarding Aelita from Bloks. Yumi and Odd ran around, shooting or slicing the enemies, several being devirtualized. Ulrich supersprinted and took out the last of the Bloks. Alex landed the car. The others mounted their vehicles and they drove into the way-tower. They came out in the mountain sector. Alex shifted gears and his tires adjusted to the rocky terrain. Ulrich and Odd led the group.

"I found out what he is doing," Jeremie told the group. "He is leading a massive group of animals here. From the looks of it, there has to be at least a hundred types of animals there!"

"Well let's get this done." Alex said. They each accelerated to the next tower. A flock of about thirty hornets came in from behind.

"Ulrich, go with Yumi and protect Aelita," Odd said, slowing down to turn around. Alex stepped on the break and drifted around. Crytal stood in her seat, ready for the onslaught of enemies. Odd charged at them and jumped through their wall, turning around in midair to take out three of them, and landed back on his OverBoard. Crystal threw several knives at them taking out two. Alex stopped the car, stood, and proceeded to take out six with very accurate shots. They turned around, shooting relentlessly at the group. The OverBoard was shot and Odd fell, flat on his face. The hornets devirtualized Odd.

"We won't make it," Alex said, sitting back down in his seat. "We need to go. They can't follow us through the tower." Alex accelerated the vehicle, Crystal still standing in her seat, deflecting lasers to make sure the car didn't disappear from beneath them, and occasionally throwing a knife to destroy a hornet.

**[The Lab]**

The factory was being rampaged by various species of animals. Some began to follow XANA's and searched the ladder down to the control room. "Hurry, guys. They are in the factory," Jeremie called to the Lyoko warriors. Crashing could be heared from anywhere in the lab. Jeremie wondered how they could all possibly make it out of this one alive.

**[Lyoko]**

Yumi and Ulrich stood back to back, Aelita in between. Krabs surrounded them. Their vehicles had been devirtualized. Each of them deflecting shots. There were too many Krabs to attempt to leave Aelita unguarded on any side. Alex pulled up next to them. He hit his staff down and all the Krabs became stunned.

"GO!" Alex yelled. Yumi jumped on the back of Alex's vehicle.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich yelled picking up Aelita onto his back. They arrived at the next way-tower. Ulrich dived through the tower, Aelita still on his back, and Alex drove into it. They came out in the desert. Alex shifted again. Metal plates covered his wheel to give extra traction and prevent sliding.

"The tower isn't far. South on the next platform. Hurry," Jeremie said. Each of them accelerated toward their destination.

**[The Lab]**

Roars were heard from above. "We need to get to a lower level, Odd," Jeremie informed. Odd and Jeremie got in the elevator. Just as the doors closed, they had seen a bear fall into the room and look them in the eyes. Jeremie hit the bottom floor access code. They arrived in the computer room. We are going to have to wait down here and hope for the best." Jeremie's face was stricken, with concern instead of fear.

**[Lyoko]**

They arrived at the flat, the tower guarded by Tarantulas.

"Give Aelita to me," Alex commanded Ulrich. Ulrich sat Aelita down and she traded places with Crystal. "Go clear a way." They ran ahead, fighting the hostiles. Ulrich cut the front legs off of one and kicked it backwards over the edge. Yumi threw her fans at another, which were shot away. Crystal jumped over a set of bullets aimed at her and threw a knife, midair. Aelita ran out onto the battlefield, attracting their attention to give the others a chance to devirtualize them. She ran in the direction of a close edge and attempted to jump. Just as she did, a Tarantula shot her in the back. She fell down to the digital sea.

"NOOOO!" Ulrich yelled. He looked back in the direction of Alex, at first with a look that would ask 'Why didn't you do anything?', but then he noticed Aelita step out of Alex's car. Alex looked back at Ulrich. Both of them smiled. Ulrich turned around back to the monsters, only to see they had already been kicked over the edge by the others.

After the return to the past, the group sat in the control room.

"How did XANA spawn so many monsters?" Ulrich asked. "There were many more than usual."

"XANA is getting more powerful and he is going to start using his newly gained power to protect his towers more efficiently," Jeremie explained. "You can only expect many more enemies from now on."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**AN: I must remind you that these days are not in direct sequence. Like in the series, there are days in between episodes. This is my point on the episode 'The Key'. I needed a transition to the 3rd season. This is as close as I could get to the exact episode while keeping my people in the story line. I really want people to review this story so that I know what people think about it.**

**(Alex's first person)**

I woke up to my phone ringing. Ulrich and Odd walked into the door just as I reached for the phone.

"Jeremie wants us to meet him at the lab. He says he wants to show us something," Odd said. Aelita and Crystal showed up at the door.

"Come on," Aelita said. I stood up and put my shoes on. We walked through the woods to the manhole. We each mounted our skateboard or scooter and rode to the ladder reaching the bridge. We slid down our ropes to the elevator and rode down to the control room. Jeremie was waiting in his chair.

"I was up all night looking through Franz Hoppers files for anything that might help us with the antivirus. I found something that I wanted to show you," he said, turning back to the computer. He opened the folder containing Franz's video diary. He cycled through until he found what he was looking for. It talked about how Franz had planned on taking Aelita to Lyoko to live safely for eternity. "That's why XANA wanted to steal Aelita's memory. To get the keys to Lyoko."

"What would he do with them?" Odd asked.

"Be free of Lyoko," Aelita and I said in unison. "With them he could get out and join the network. If he got them we wouldn't be able to shutdown the computer to stop him anymore," I finished.

We walked back to the school, Odd starting to complain about being hungry, and talked about what we had just learned. When we got through the line for breakfast, we sat down at our usual table.

"It turns out I was wrong this whole time. XANA didn't plant her with a virus. He took something from her," Jeremie said.

"What?" Odd asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. Some sort of memory fragment. I have localized it in sector 5. We are ready to go get it tonight."

"Good," Crystal said.

"After the end of the year dance, of course," Odd added

"Yah. It will be our final mission," Ulrich said.

"Out of the question!" Aelita said, and stormed out, not even finishing her breakfast. Jeremie followed her.

"More for me," Odd said, pulling her tray over to him. I threw my spoon at him and pulled her plate back to where she sat.

"Keep an eye on my food," I said standing to follow Jeremie. I followed them to the outside walkway.

"I'm never stepping foot on Lyoko, again. My father was a con man. He took my life from me," Aelita said.

"Yet he gave me life," I said. They turned around to see me. "And he kept you alive. Whenever you get your memories back, you will remember how good he was."

"Aelita, once we get your memory, we can shutdown the supercomputer," Jeremie tried to reassure her.

"Aelita, you need your memories." I knew I wouldn't let Jeremie shutdown the computer until Franz was rematerialized.

"... But what if something goes wrong... What if XANA steals the keys of Lyoko..." she said as she walked away.

"Where's Aelita?" Ulrich asked once Jeremie and I sat down.

"I don't know. Maybe she went back to her room," Jeremie said.

After breakfast, we walked outside to the courtyard.

"So, who are you taking to the dance, Odd?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. But fortunately, I have a way with women," he said walking up to a girl.

"Hey, wanna go to the end of the year dance with me?"

"I thought I told you to never talk to me again!"

"Oh... Sorry..."

Ulrich left Odd and I and walked over to talk to Yumi. They had just started to talk when William Dunbar walked over and grabbed her arm and walked away with her. Sissy walked up to talk to Ulrich.

"What would you say to taking the prettiest girl in school to the dance?"

"Uh, you mean Anais Fiquet? No she's going with Christophe M'Bala," Odd said.

"Actually, I had planned on it. Wanna go the dance with me Crystal," I said seriously, but half laughing at how mean we were being to Sissy.

"Sure," Crystal said, smiling, grabbing my hand.

" I ment me, idiots," she said. Odd and I laughed. "Well?" Ulrich looked over to see Yumi talking to William.

"Uh, okay. I'll go to the dance with you." Ulrich said. Odd and I looked at each other, wondering what could have hit him on the head hard enough to willingly go to the dance with Sissy. Sissy started fumbling over her words. She was thinking the same thing we were.

"Uh.. Really? Well.. Uh, Okay. See you tonight." They walked away, except Herb, which took a spiteful look at Ulrich before following her.

"I'd rather look like a big loser and go by myself than go with someone like her," Odd said.

"Let it go, Odd. Okay," Ulrich said, looking over at Yumi holding William's hand.

We walked over to the vending machine. "Have any of you seen Aelita. There is no answer on her phone and the supercomputer's not responding either," Jeremie said, walking to meet us.

"Think it's a bug?" Odd asked. I immediately stood up.

"Maybe, I'm going to the factory. Cover for me with the teachers," Jeremie said.

"I'll come, too," I said, walking with him.

We rode our vehicles to the lab. When we arrived, Jeremie took his seat and attempted to connect to Lyoko.

"This isn't right," he said when the connection failed. We took the elevator down to the computer room. Aelita lied down on the floor.

"Aelita!" we yelled together. Jeremie fell to the ground and held Aelita's head up. I quickly turned on the supercomputer.

"Answer me, Aelita. Come on!" Jeremie said shaking her. She woke up. "Your insane! Why would you do that?!" I fell down beside them.

"To save the world. To save you all," she said.

"We'll save it together," Jeremie said.

"We need you to be here, with us. I can't lose you again, Aelita," I said. "It's my job to protect you, and I am going to do just that."

We went back up to the control room. Jeremie called Ulrich. "Hey, you at the dance?"

"No didn't wanna go," he responded.

"Glad to hear it. Aelita and I aren't gonna go either, and Alex is here with us. Come to the factory. It's mission time. Let Odd, Yumi, and Crystal know too, okay?"

"Okay," he said, hanging up the phone.

They arrived at the factory. "This is the big one, guys. We are going to recover Aelita's memory fragment and destory XANA once and for all," Jeremie said.

"Let's go, then," Odd said.

"Be careful," Jeremie told Aelita.

**(Third Person Omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd spawned first in the ice sector followed by Crystal, Alex, and Aelita. "Here come your vehicles," Jeremie said. Alex and Crystal climbed in the OverCar, as Jeremie called it, Ulrich and Aelita mounted the OverBike, Odd flipped onto the OverBoard, Yumi jumped onto the OverWing. "The edge of the sector is north, northeast."

They arrived at the edge of the sector. "Enter the code," Aelita said.

Jeremie typed in the code and the transported swooped down and grabbed everyone. They arrived in the room of sector 5. The wall opened and everyone ran towards it. "You have three minutes to find the key and stop the countdown. Loads of Creepers walked in through newly opening passage ways. Ulrich jumped in front of Aelita, deflecting several shots. Yumi threw a fan, knocking out two creepers with one throw. Crystal threw a knife at one devirtuaizing it. Alex shot several Creepers along side Odd. More creepers walked onto the ground floor.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich yelled, running at them. They continued battling the seemingly endless hoards of monsters. A Creeper charged at Aelita. Yumi somersaulted in front of her, taking a hit to the chest.

"Careful, Yumi. Your down 50 life points!" Jeremie yelled.

"We need to hurry up and hit the key," Alex yelled. Alex ran close to the wall and signaled Odd. Odd ran at him and jumped off of his hands, jumping up into the above ledges. He ran along beams, jumping with his catlike balance. A creeper perched atop the key. Odd jumped at it, grabbing its head with his claws, and ripped its head from its body. He backflipped, throwing the head at the key. Just as the Creeper disappeared, the ground opened up. Odd quickly scurried down.

They climbed down the spiral staircase that opened. When they reached the bottom, they observed a shining ball.

"Jeremie, there is something shining over there," Ulrich said.

"That's it. That's Aelita's memory fragment." Aelita ran towards it, followed by the others.

"Look out!" Yumi said, jumping in front of Aelita, getting shot in the back. She fell off of the bridge, being devirtualized as she fell. Crystal threw a knife at the Creeper that shot Yumi. More Creepers arrived on floating platforms. Odd shot some. Ulrich jumped onto a platform and cut a Creeper in half. Alex swung his staff at another monster's head, knocking off. Crystal stabbed another through the bottom of its head. She flipped it backwards over her and off the bridge. Ulrich jumped back onto the bridge and guarded Aelita. Odd and Alex fought back to back with Creepers. Odd jump kicked one in the head off the bridge and Alex grabbed his with one hand and stabbed it with his staff in the other. They ran to meet with Aelita, waiting at a huge gap. Odd was shot in the shoulder, barrel rolled on the ground. The others continued running. Odd ran towards a huge group of ten Creepers, dodging shots. He stopped to shoot. As he pulled his hand up, he was shot in the chest. He shot two of the monsters before the rest relentlessly shot him. Crystal turned back to see the monsters destroy Odd.

"We have to hurry," Ulrich said, grabbing Aelita and jumping. Alex teleported to the other side and grabbed Aelita's hand as she closed in. Ulrich hung by the ledge. Alex reached for his hand. Before Alex could grab him, Ulrich was shot in the side. Crystal took one of her knives and threw it at the Creeper that shot Ulrich.

"Jump!" Alex yelled at Crystal. Crystal ran to jump at the edge. Before she made it to the edge, the place started to fall apart. She jumped at the edge of the landscape, but it was already too far down. She entirely missed the platform and fell short by several feet. Alex turned to run to Aelita. They both fell, but landed on a set of Manta's. Alex pet the Manta, familiar with Franz Hopper's white glow on energy. The Mantas lifted them to the platform where Aelita's fragment had sat. Aelita walked to it, clutching it in her hands. Alex watched. Waiting for the fragment to cover her and restore her memory. But it didn't. It shattered. Alex looked above him. The ceiling caved in. Alex teleported next to the platform next to hers. The ceiling destroyed that one, too. Alex was devirtualized.

**[The Lab]**

Alex rode the elevator to the control room. Five people looked back at him, all of which were half sad, half scared, except Jeremie, which was entirely heartbroken. The computer started to beep. The moment they had all feared. The Scyphozoa floated toward Aelita. We each dashed to the monitor. The Scyphozoa dropped Aelita. The window showing Aelita's remaining memory read '0'.

"Aelita's... Dead..." Jeremie said. Yumi started to cry on Ulrich's shoulder. Alex put his arm around Crystal. Odd and Jeremie couldn't move. The holograph showing Lyoko turned dark.

"Wha- What's going on?" Yumi asked.

"XANA got what he wanted..." Jeremie said, a tear running down his face. "He has the keys to Lyoko... He'll be able to get out of the supercomputer..." A dark tornado erupted from the lab. XANA became free. The sky became dark. The world was now at the mercy of XANA.

**[Lyoko]**

Lyoko was darkening. XANA was activating a tower in each sector. However, there was one speck of light erupting from the center of Lyoko. A ball of white energy surrounded Aelita. Aelita's memories flooded her. She remembered her life.

**[The Lab]**

"What's going on, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.

"It's Franz Hopper. He is bringing Lyoko back to life," Jeremie answered, a look of astonishment reached his face past the tear. The holograph flooded with light again. The number of Aelita's memory shot back up again.

"To the scanner room, quick!" he ordered, leaving his chair. In the scanner room, Aelita had been rematerialized in the scanner. Aelita fell over. "Aelita!" he said, catching her.

"Jeremie," she said back.

**(Alex first person)**

We walked back to our dorms in silence. I sat down on my bed holding Crystal's hand. Jeremie sat in his chair. Odd, Yumi, and Aelita sat on Jeremie's bed. Ulrich leaned against Jeremie's table.

"Right, would someone please say something funny before I have a heart attack," Odd said, trying to lighten the mood.

"My father sacrificed himself for me," Aelita said, entirely depressed. "And we don't even know if he is still on Lyoko."

"Fine, excuse me while I have my heart attack," Odd said.

"All of those memories of your life on earth, that was the fragment XANA took from you to bind you to him," Jeremie said. "And Franz Hopper managed to give them back to you."

"Now your free, Aelita," Ulrich said.

"But so is XANA," I said.

"Shutting the supercomputer down isn't going to kill XANA anymore," Yumi said. "What are we going to do?" Yumi asked.

"Same as always. We'll fight," Jeremie said, standing up. "XANA may have become more powerful. But I don't think he is invincible. If he attacks, we'll counterattack. We'll find a way to get rid of XANA for good."

"And we will do everything we can to find your dad, Aelita," Yumi said.

"And we will free him," I said.

"You're right. The fight has to go on. After all, fighting XANA is my job," Aelita said. We each took hands.

"No Aelita, it's our job," Jeremie said.

That night, Jeremie and I was lying down to sleep. "Jeremie, there is something I haven't told you."

"What is it?"

"I used to talk to Franz. Before you guys freed me. I told him stories."

"What are you saying?"

"If he is on Lyoko, I know where he is. But since XANA opened the port to Lyoko, he could have escaped. He could be anywhere."


	9. Character descriptions

**This isn't a chapter. I understand that my character descriptions aren't quite detailed, so this is about what my characters look like.**

**Alex Stones**

**(Description)**

Alex is a program of Lyoko, specifically designed to kill monsters and protect Aelita.

**(Lyoko)**

**[Appearance]**

Alex has short, spiked, pure-white hair. He wears a black tanktop with a red slash going from his left shoulder to his right hip. On his right shoulder he has a small, white shoulderplate. His blindfold is white with light blue digital grids (representing the ones left by a person when they are devirtualized). He has black fingerless gloves. He has black pants with white markings that resemble Aelita's leg bands. He has two hooks on his right thigh that hold a 10 inch shortened staff.

**[Weapon]**

Alex's staff is, by default 10 inches, but grows to be 6 foot long and is attached to his leg. In either state, shortened or lengthened, the staff has the ability to have either of its ends change into any of three things.

-Laser: Shoots lasers that look resemble the lasers the monsters shoot.

-Blade: An 8 inch blade that is used for close combat.

-Stun: A blue, electronized ball that shocks monsters. It can be used directly, and stun one monster, or area-based, and stun all close monsters.

**[Abilities]**

Long distance seeing: Alex can see any portion of Lyoko.

Long distance teleporting: Alex can teleport to any area he can see. This ability may also be used in sequence with long distance seeing to teleport anywhere.

**(Earth)**

**[Appearance]**

Alex keeps his short, spikey, pure-white hair. He has ocean blue eyes. He wears a black t-shirt and a white, zip-up hoodie, a watch on his left wrist, and a pair of simple blue jeans.

**[Abilities]**

Alex, being a materialized program, keeps his abilities, including superhuman strength and speed. Since Alex is a program, he is also very good with computers.

**Crystal Descoteaux**

**(Description)**

Crystal is Aelita's roommate, joined into the group from a near-death experience.

**(Lyoko)**

**[Appearance]**

Crystal has long, blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a blue shirt with long, loose sleeves and gold, tribal-like markings on it. She has blue pants. On her back there are two knives. One attached to her left shoulder, the other attached to her waist. She wears blue pants with similar tribal markings.

**[Weapon]**

Crystal has two throwing knives hidden under her sleeves and two 15 inch knives in sheaths on her back.

**[Abilities]**

Heal: By touching people and saying 'Heal', Crystal has the ability to heal others.

Digital sea devirtualization: Instead of being trapped in the digital sea upon falling in, Crystal simply becomes devirtualized.

**(Earth)**

**[Appearance]**

Crystal wears her hair back in a ponytail. She wears a red short sleeved shirt, and blue jeans.

**[Abilities]**

Crystal is relatively good at using computers. She knows how to use the supercomputer to complete simple tasks, such as virtualization and spawning the vehicles.

**Peter Dax**

**(Description)**

Peter is on the archery team. He is incredibly talented at shooting a bow and, before the Lyoko warriors, had extremely few friends.

**(Lyoko)**

**[Appearance]**

Peter has short, blonde hair and brown eyes. Over his right eye, there is a small, monocle-like glass object used for snipering that can be moved onto his eye or above it. He wears a blue shirt with a green bulls-eye on it. On both hands there are blue gloves with green lines extending from his wrist to the tip of his fingers. His pants are blue with green lines all the way down the sides.

**[Weapon]**

Peter's Weapon are two scimitars put together to make a bow without a string. His bow shoots arrows made of light. It can be taken apart by twisting the handle to create two scimitars.

**[Abilities]**

Camouflage: Blend in to environments to disappear. Can only be used for one minute with a thirty second cooldown.

Contain: Catch enemy lasers and dissolve them. Can only be used without anything in his hands.

**(Earth)**

**[Appearance]**

Peter wears a blue short sleeve shirt and blue jeans. He wears an analog wrist watch on his left wrist.

**[Abilities]**

Peter is a very good marksman. He isn't very good with computers.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**AN: Please review. This chapter takes place between season 2 and season 3.**

**(Alex first person)**

It was the last week of summer. Odd was in Holland to spend time with his family. Ulrich went to Germany for a family reunion. Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I stayed at the school. Yumi only lived downtown so in the case of a XANA attack, she wouldn't be far away. Jeremie's father offered to house us all during the break, but Jeremie insisted on staying. Jeremie and I had spent most of the break making a way to track XANA on the network. We all sat in Jeremie and my dorm.

"I wish I could be of some use," Yumi said. The rest of us had some useful knowledge of computers.

"You are," Crystal said smiling. "Your keeping us company."

"You know that's not what I ment," she said falling back onto Jeremie's bed.

"Well, we could take a break," Jeremie said turning around in his chair.

"It's almost lunchtime anyways," I said putting my laptop down. We left the dorm and headed for the cafeteria. There was hardly anyone there. We walked through the line and all sat down at our table.

"I'm going to need access through the network port for the superscan," Jeremie said, sitting down.

"We are going to have to go to Carthage and access the console in order to grant that kind of permission," I said.

"A Lyoko mission?" Yumi asked, finally able to get some action.

"Yeah. There isn't anyway to give access to a program from the computer," Jeremie said.

"We'll go after lunch. We need to get that access quick, otherwise we won't even be able to test it," Aelita said.

We finished eating our meal and walked back to our dorm. Jeremie burned the program to a disk, and we left. We went through the park and into the sewers. We each grabbed our transportation and rode through the sewers. We climbed the ladder to the bridge and hurried across into the factory. We rode the elevator down to the control room. Jeremie inserted the disk and loaded the program.

"We aren't quite done with the programming, but it is at the point where we can test its ability to use the network. Go on down to the scanner room. I'll virtualize you into the mountain sector.

**(Third person omniscient)**

Alex and Crystal spawned first, followed by Yumi and Aelita.

"Here come your vehicles," Jeremie said. The OverCar and the OverWing spawned next to them. They each quickly mounted the vehicles. "The edge of the sector is directly south of your location." They drove in the indicated location. "Watch out, Tarantulas. We stopped. Yumi stepped off and grabbed her fans.

"Aelita, take the OverWing and hide," Alex said stepping out of the car. Aelita drove the OverWing to the side of the flat and hid behind a large rock. Crystal slid out her knives. Three Tarantulas came onto the flat. They each kneeled and aimed. Alex lengthened his staff and charged them, deflecting their lasers as they shot. He jumped over the one in front, causing it to turn and look at him. Yumi threw a fan at the one that turned around, devirtualizing it. Alex hit his staff on the ground with the stun tip. He backflip-kicked one off the edge of the flat. Crystal ran to him and stabbed the other in the head.

"More monsters are coming. Hurry up and get to the edge, you can beat them there," Jeremie said. Alex and Crystal ran back to the OverCar. Aelita drove the OverWing out and Yumi hopped on. Ten Krabs followed them. Alex swerved to avoid being hit. Yumi threw her fans at them. She hit the leg out from under one, causing it to fall over in front of another. The other fell on top of the injured one, still shooting, and shot it in the eye, leaving it on its side. The other Krabs still followed. Alex swung around into reverse, shooting the Krab with his shortened staff's laser tip, still dodging the lasers off the Krabs. Aelita gave Yumi control of the OverWing and kneeled down. She created a wall just behind Alex to keep the Krabs from following them. Alex spun around, facing forward again. They arrived at the edge of the sector. Jeremie typed in the code. The dismounted their vehicles and stepped into the transporter. They arrived in the center room.

"Three minutes on the countdown. Go," Jeremie said. They immeidately ran to the opening wall. When they reached the main room, they looked for the key. It was a huge open room with small platforms jutting from the wall.

"There it is," Crystal said, pointing to the place near the top of the room.

"It'll take forever to get up there," Aelita said. "Could you teleport up there, Alex?"

"I can only teleport to places on the ground. There isn't a ground next to it. But I can teleport as close as I can." Alex said, looking for the highest place he could see. He teleported to a platform a few yards away. He ran along the wall and jumped for the key. He was shot by a creeper and fell.

"That shot only took ten lifepoints, but the fall took fifty," Jeremie said. Alex stood and grabbed his thigh. His staff wasn't there. He looked around for it and noticed it on the other side of the room. Alex stood and ran for it. A Creeper opened its mouth and aimed at him. He flipped over it just as Crystal threw a throwing knife at it. Alex picked up the knife.

"I'm just ganna borrow this for a sec," he said. The knife wasn't very long, but it was better than fighting them with his bare hands. He ran at more, slashing them through the head or the body. Yumi and Crystal continued fighting. Crystal picked up one with her knife through the bottom of its head and threw it at another. Alex picked up his staff and threw Crystal's knife at a Creeper that was close to her. Alex teleported to the center and stunned the area, making it easier to fight them.

"Go," Yumi said. "We'll hold them off. We are running out of time." Alex nodded and teleported back to the highest platform. He ran along the wall, dodging the fired lasers, and jumped for the key. He began to fall short. He lengthened his staff again and swung for the key. It hit. Alex began to fall again. Before he hit, he teleported, safely, to a spot next to the others who had finished killing the last of the Creepers. The wall opened and the followed the path out to the elevator. As it passed they each jumped on. It led them to the bridge of the console. Aelita began working on the access to the network for the program.

"They're hatching," Jeremie said. "Here come your vehicles." Alex and Crystal slid into the OverCar and Yumi jumped on the OverWing. Aelita continued to work on the superscan. Alex drove towards the group of Mantas. He flipped a switch on the panel that contained several other buttons and switches. Crystal and he jumped off and onto the passing Mantas. They each stabbed one and jumped onto the next, taking out six Mantas. They both jumped off and the OverCar drove under them. They landed in their seats.

"You added a homing device?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah, pretty useful," Alex said, turning around to go back to Aelita.

Yumi rode in close to Aelita and threw a fan at a Manta preparing to shoot Aelita with bombs.

"I'm finished," Aelita said.

"Okay, I'm bringing you in," Jeremie said.

**(Alex first person)**

I was devirtualized with Crystal, then Yumi and Aelita. Jeremie was in the scanner room waiting for Aelita. He looked worried. Using CODE: EARTH to free Aelita had become habitual. As she came out, he showed relief. We went back up to the control room.

"I'm going back to school. It's already almost dinner time," Yumi said. Crystal and Aelita followed her.

"Coming?" Crystal asked.

"Not yet, we will be there in a sec. Jeremie and I are going to get a bit done on the superscan," I said.

"Okay," Aelita said. "We will be waiting in the cafeteria." They took the elevator back up to the top floor.

"Okay, go down to the scanners," Jeremie said, pulling up the transfer bar.

I took the ladder down to the scanner room and climbed in one.

"Transfer Alex... Scanner Alex... Virtualization!"

I spawned in the desert sector, but that didn't matter. I could get where I was going from anywhere. I teleported to the place where I had spent so much of my previous life. But Franz wasn't there. I fell to my knees. I knew it was possible for Franz to have escapen, but it didn't seem right that he wasn't here. I teleported back to where Jeremie had spawned me.

"I'm bringing you back," Jeremie said.

I slowly disappeared from Lyoko. Jeremie was waiting for me at the scanner. I didn't even have to say anything. The depressive look on my face told him I didn't find what I was looking for.

"I think it's best not to tell Aelita about this," Jeremie said. "The last thing she needs is to know right now is that he isn't on Lyoko."

I nodded. We took the elevator back up to the top floor and walked back to the school.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**AN: Please review.**

**(Alex first person)**

Yumi, Aelita, and Crystal woke me up.

"It's still summer. Go back to bed," I said.

"Jeremie wants us to meet him in the lab. He said the words 'Aelita' and 'attack', so I figured it had to be inportant," Yumi said pulling my covers off of me.

"Do you think it is a XANA attack? Can't he just let us sleep in for once?" I said, half joking.

"I don't know. Last night Jeremie called Crystal and me to the lab for a scan. He said it would take some time to go over the data," Aelita told us. "Sounds like Jeremie doesn't want us to sleep either."

"He was probably trying to figure out everything that happened to you after you got your memory back," I said, standing up. "Well, better not keep him waiting. Let's go."

We rode our transportation to the end of the sewers and climbed the ladder. The others slid down their ropes, but I decided to teleport into the elevator. I was tired and simply didn't feel like running. They got in and I pushed the elevator button. Jeremie was typing at his computer when we arrived.

"Took long enough. I wanted to show you something," he said.

"So you've told us," Yumi said. "What is it?"

"Aelita now has the ability to protect herself," Jeremie said. Everyone became more interested. "She has an energy field. It has an incredibly high damage rate. It is both offensive and defensive. I need you guys to go to Lyoko and let Aelita practice."

"Can't we eat first? I'm both hungry and tired," I said, still complaining about waking up so early.

"Sure," Jeremie said. "We can eat. I need you guys to be ready to fight." Jeremie got out of his seat and walked to the elevator. We walked back to school and into the cafeteria. Each of us walked though the line and sat down.

"Could you guys hurry?" Aelita said, eating faster than Odd and I ever could. It was obvious that she wanted to get to the lab as fast as possible and use her new abilities.

"We are eating, Aelita. Not inhaleing our food." Jeremie said. Aelita slowed down.

"Sorry. I just don't like being the only defenceless one," Aelita said. We finished eating our meal in silence, not wishing to upset Aelita.

Afterwards, we all ran to the manhole in the forest. I picked up the lid and set it aside. I let the others climb down first, then pulled the lid back. We reached the bottom and climbed on our skateboards or scooters, and rode back to the factory. We went down to the control room. Jeremie opened a map of Lyoko.

"It looks like there is a large group of monsters in the desert sector," Jeremie said. Aelita didn't have to be told. She headed for the elevator. I looked at Aelita and Yumi, each looking at eachother, then walked over to the elevator. Aelita and Yumi got in the scanner first.

**(Third person omniscient)**

Alex and Crystal spawned above Yumi and Aelita.

"Here they come," Jeremie said. "They are coming from both directions." Alex and Crystal stood side by side, back to back with Aelita and Yumi. The group of monsters arrived. Aelita ran ahead of the others, arm extended. Alex and Crystal turned around, eager to see Aelita's power. A pink ball appeared at the end of her hand. She consentrated and the ball flew at a Blok. The energy engulfed the Blok and it was immediately devirtualized. Everyone attacked. Alex pulled his staff up from his thigh, and added the laser tip to it. He began shooting the incoming hornets. Yumi jumped on a Krab and threw her fans at some Tarantulas. Crystal slid under a laser being shot from a Krab, then jumped on top of it with her knife and stabbed it through the top. As she fell, She was shot in the shoulder by a Blok. Aelita shot at hornets and Kankrolots, enjoying her new ability. Alex lengthened his staff and switched to the blade tip. He swirled the staff above his head and brought it down on a Blok. Cystal ran at a Tarantula, throwing both her throwing knives at it. It shot both, knocking them to the ground. She grabbed its arm and flipped it over her shoulder off the edge into the digital sea, then walked back over to her knives and picked them up. Yumi threw one fan down at the Krab she was standing on and rolled onto the ground, throwing another fan at a Hornet, missing. The Hornet shot her chest. She then ran and caught both of her fans and threw them at two more Hornets. A Megatank rolled onto their warzone. Aelita turned to look at it as it opened. She put two energy fields together and created a wider energy field. Alex stood behind her.

"You can do it," he told her. "Hold the wave." He blocked several shots from hitting her. Crystal and Yumi continued fighting. The Megatank shot. Aelita caught it with her energy field. The force was pushing her back. She tried as hard as she could to withstand it. "Move, Aelita," Alex said turning around. Aelita rolled out of the way. Alex held it with his staff.

"MOVE!" he yelled. Yumi jumped off of another Krab. Crystal backflip kicked a Tarantula in the head. Alex dove out of the way of the wave, shortening his staff, destroying Crystal's Tarantula, Yumi's Krab, and several other monsters. Alex switched his staff tip to laser, but the Megatank had already been devirtualized. Alex looked over at Aelita. She was standing, arm outstreached to where to Megatank had already been. There were only a couple of Kankrolots and Hornets left. Alex shot into the air at the Hornets, hitting two. Yumi threw her fan, hitting two Kankrolots. Aelita fired at Hornets, hitting three. Crystal threw her throwing knives at two Kankrolots and on her way to pick them up, she kicked one into the digital sea.

"There gone, Jeremie," Aelita said.

"Not quite," Jeremie said. "There is another large group coming. It's a lot bigger than the last. Here come your vehicles." The OverCar and OverWing spawned. Aelita and Yumi jumped onto the OverWing and Alex and Crystal jumped into the OverCar. They rode away from the hoard of monsters, side by side. They could see them closing in. Aelita shot her energy fields along with Crystal who was standing in the car throwing knives.

"There are way to many of them. There is no way we can all get out of this," Alex said.

"Wait. I have an idea," Aelita said. Aelita put both of her energy fields together, then she threw it at them, but it was no longer the small ball of energy. It was a massive wave. It took out twelve of the monsters. The rest of them stopped to wait for the wall of energy to stop, then followed the group. Alex stopped and put his staff out the side, blade tipped, and put it in reverse, charging through Bloks. Crystal also put her knives out the door, cutting the legs out from under Krabs and Tarantulas. As the monsters turned around to look at Alex and Crystal, Aelita and Yumi turned around, both taking out dozens of monsters. Alex and Crystal stepped out. Alex teleported under a Krab and stabbed it through the bottom of its head. Kankrolots surrounded him. He raised his staff to stun them, but one of them had already shot him in the back. As he fell, another shot him in the arm. Crystal came up behind one and stabbed it. Another Kankrolot shot Alex in the leg.

"Your down to 20 lifepoints," Jeremie said. Alex spun on the ground, kicking the remaining two away. Then he picked up his staff and golfed them into the digital sea. Yumi jumped off of the last Blok, and Aelita finished shooting the last Hornet down. There were still several Tarantulas and Krabs on the neighboring flat. Crystal grabbed Alex's hand.

"Heal," she said. Green lines flowed from her hand to his.

"Your life points are back to 100," Jeremie said, his voice full of disbelief. He hadn't known about any powers Crystal had, other than the time Crystal had appeared in the scanner after falling in the digital sea. Alex smiled at Crystal. He walked back to the OverCar, still holding Crystal's hand until they reached the vehicle. Yumi and Aelita climbed onto the OverWing. They rode to the flat of the remaining monsters. Yumi drove over a Krab, and Aelita jumped onto it. She put her hand on the Krab, then charged her energy field, immediately shocking the Krab. Alex drove beside a Tarantula. Crystal jumped out, knife in hand, onto its back, putting her knife on its neck, then slicing its head off of its body. A Tarantula shot the OverWing. Yumi jumped off just before it had finished being devirtualized, grabbing both of her fans, and landed in front of the Tarantula that shot her vehicle. It started shooting at her. She blocked herself with her fans, moving them to deflect or absorb all shots. Aelita shot it, then ran under a Krab, devirtualizing it, also. Alex drifted around to face a Tarantula. He floored the accelerator, charging it. The OverCar hit the enemy. With the Tarantula on the hood of his car, Alex drove to the edge of the flat, jumping out just as he reached the edge. Crystal charged the last Krab, deflecting its shots with her knives, then jumped on top of it and stabbed it with both knives.

"Well, that's it," Jeremie said. "I'm bringing you in." Aelita and Yumi were devirtualized first.

**(Alex first person)**

We sat in the control room.

"I like it," Aelita said. "It is much better to fight than need to hide from the monsters."

"Yeah," Yumi told her. "Now you are are a complete Lyoko Warrior."

"Let's go back to the room," Alex said. "We are almost done with the superscan."

"Yeah, We need to finish that," Jeremie said standing from his chair. We each walked to the elevator and then back to the school.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**AN: Please review. I would appreciate anything. I just want to know what people think about my story.**

I woke up on the first real day of school. Odd and Ulrich arrived friday and we didn't have class that day, then we didn't have classes for the weekend. Jeremie and I walked down to the cafeteria to meet the others. They sat, already eating their breakfast. Jeremie and I walked through the line and sat down with the others. I started eating.

"Ready for class?" Ulrich asked to no one directly. Everyone nodded.

"Today we have Science. What about you Yumi?" Crystal asked.

"French," Yumi answered.

"I, for one, still wish that we are on break," Odd said.

"I don't," Ulrich said. "Being away from Lyoko for so long was boring."

"I'm just glad we got so many things done in two weeks and didn't have to use a return to the past," Jeremie said.

"Could you imagine how weird it would be to wake up on the same day again without expecting a return to the past?" Odd asked.

"Yeah. I don't think my vacation was as fun as being here on Lyoko," Ulrich said. "I had to spend my vacation at my grandma Lucinda's house."

"My sisters locked me in the bathroom, again," Odd said, appearently engaging in his competitive nature.

"My grandma is a vegan. Could you imagine what we had to eat?" Ulrich said.

"My sisters took turns spitting in my food. They told me after the meal," Odd countered.

"I slept in the closet under the stairs."

"My sisters put a stink bomb in my pillow, so that when I layed down on it, it would make my room smell like Kiwi peed in every square foot of my room. Then when I tried to leave, they blocked the door with a chair."

"Okay," Ulrich gave up. "Your sisters are a lot worse than my grandma." Odd nodded. We finished our meal and went back to Jeremie and my room to wait for the time to go to class. Jeremie sat in his chair, Aelita sat in the floor next to him, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich shared Jeremie's bed, and Crystal and I sat on my bed. Jeremie's computer started to beep.

"Really? We just sat down!" Odd said.

"We better go before something serious happens," Jeremie said. We stood and walked out the door and down the hall. When we reached the door, we looked outside. The sky was pitch black and it was flooding with rain. Thunder shook the building.

"We better take the boiler room access," I said. We ran for the boiler room. An alarm sounded. Students filled the halls, heading for the basement. We split off when the hoard of students passed the boiler room and headed down the stairs into the sewers. The water level was an inch above the walkway.

"We're going to need to walk. We can't ride through this," Jeremie said. We walked as fast as we could, taking a lot longer to get to the ladder than it would with our vehicles. Everyone climbed as fast as they could to avoid getting rained on. I teleported into the factory.

"Cheater," Odd said after sliding down his rope. We rode the elevator down. Jeremie got out in the control room, and we continued down to the scanner room.

"The tower is in the forest region," Jeremie said.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Alex, Aelita, and Crystal spawned above the others.

"The tower is on the platform directly east. Be careful. It looks pretty heavily guarded," Jeremie said. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd walked to the next area ahead of the others, prepared to fight. The others waited for them to get a good lead then followed them. Ulrich led the group, deflecting shots from all types of monsters. Odd ran out onto the battle field and shot two hornets that were focusing on Ulrich. Yumi threw both of her fans at a Krab. The first fan cut the legs out from under it, and the second one went threw the top of it.

"Triangulate!" Ulrich yelled running around a Blok. The Blok fired, knocking out one fake Ulrich. Another Ulrich ran up behind it and stabbed it through the eye. Aelita ran onto the battlefield, arm extended, aiming at a Tarantula. Alex teleported and hit a Kankrolot off the flat. Crystal charged a Tarantula. It put its arms up to aim. Crystal put her knives together and cut its leg off, then stabbed it through the head. Ulrich and his clone jumped into the air onto two side by side Krabs, stabbing them through the top of the head. Odd shot three Kankrolots. Aelita shot a Blok and a Hornet. A Kankrolot and a Krab aimed at Alex. Alex watched the Kankrolot charge. At the last moment, Alex leaned back dodging the shot, then he stabbed it, swirled his staff and put it at the bottom of the Krab and shot a laser through it.

**[School]**

The stairwell leading to the basement of the school was completely flooded. Water started to flow in under the crack in the door. Thunder could still be heard crashing outside.

"Why didn't we go upstairs?" Sissy asked Jim.

"If this breaks out in a tornado, it could take the building with it," Jim said, ignoring the know-it-all in her voice. Jim walked up the stairs and attempted to clog the door with his jacket.

**[Lyoko]**

Crystal was surrounded by Kankrolots. She threw a knife at one, devirtualizing it. She kicked another. Another one shot her arm. Alex teleported to her, hitting the ground to stun them, then they simply stabbed them. Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and Yumi stood in a circle, Ulrich blocking shots from hitting Aelita. Aelita shot an energy field at a Tarantula. Odd shot at Hornets. Yumi threw one fan at a Krab. Crystal ran around stabing several monsters. Alex teleported, shooting or stabbing monsters. More monsters poured in from the side paths. Alex, Ulrich, and Crystal took one path, Odd, Yumi, and Aelita took the other, each team taking out dozens of enemies. Ulrich jumped onto a Blok, stabbing it through the eye. As he stood perched, a Krab shot him in the back. Alex stood beside him, guarding him from incoming shots. a Kankrolot shot Alex in the shoulder, knocking him back. As he stood up, a Krabs shot him. He was devirtualized.

"Odd! Yumi! There are too many of them! We need to hurry up and get Aelita into that tower! There is no point in trying to clear this area anymore!" Alex yelled. Odd pushed Aelita behind him, Yumi ahead of him, guarding shots from the enemies. Yumi turned to run with Aelita, but was shot in the ankle. Yumi turned around to see the hoard of monsters. She stood, fans in hand, and blocked Aelita and Odd. Aelita ran towards the tower.

**[School]**

The presure behind the door built up. It was starting to creek on its hinges, unable to move. Jim ran up the stairs, leaning against it to hold back the water. It wasn't enough. The hinges busted, sending the door flying. Water flooded the room. Everyone tried their hardest to float to the top. The water rushed in like a waterfall, crashing off of the stairs and the walls.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita ran into the tower, walking into the center. She floated to the top. Outside, Yumi had just been devirtualized. Odd was being surrounded and also was shot to devirtualization. Alex and Crystal stood back to back. Alex jabbed the ground with his staff, stunning the hoard. He grabbed her hand and ran under the forces of Krabs and over the lines of Kankrolots. They then fought them from the other side. Destroying several monsters before they ever became unstunned. Aelita reached the top. She walked to the panel and placed her had on it. Outside, Alex and Crystal had slaughtered the onslaught of enemies, only taking a couple of shots a piece.

**[School]**

The water level reached the ceiling. Everyone was now underwater. Some tried to swim up the stairs to get air, but the water pressure was pushing them back.

**[Lyoko]**

The console read 'CODE'. Aelita typed in 'LYOKO'. The boxes of binary code fell from inside the tower. Alex and Crystal sat on the edge of the flat, hand in hand, waiting to return to the past.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremie yelled.

**(Alex first person)**

I was on my bed, still holding Crystal's hand, waiting for class.

"You were definately right when you said 'more monsters'," Ulrich said.

"There had to be a hundred of them!" Odd shouted.

"And there will be more," I said. "XANA is not going to give up easily. He is going to protect the tower as best he can."

"We've got to go to class," Crystal said standing up. We each stood up and walked to class.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**AN: Please review.**

**(Alex first person)**

We sat in the stands outside at the field for gym.

"Okay," Jim said pulling out a clipboard with roll call. "David Allard, Justin Augustine, Jeremie Belpois, Crystal Descoteaux, Odd Della Robbia, Michael Denis, Andrew Faure, Arthur High, Ulrich Stern, Aelita Stones, Alex Stones, Joshua Thomas, Luke Vipond... Looks like everyone is here. Today we will be doing a ranged-aim class. First we have the javalin throw. To you this may seem like a very exciting class, however, this class will requires extra care.

"You should rock this, Alex," Ulrich said as Jim explained the rules and proper javalin handeling.

"Now, as you can see, there are a series of six targets lined up," Jim said pointing to the targets. "Each one smaller than the previous. You will go in alphabetical order and attempt to get the highest score possible. The center target is 10 points and each ring past that decreasing in value. Allard, you first."

I watched the others go in line, showing immence complications in their throw. Some managed to hit the target, although most missed entirely. I walked up when it was my turn. There was a long table with six javelins on it. I picked up the first one, aimed directly at the target, and threw it as hard as I could, not wanting to miss. The javalin tore through the center of the target and fell on the ground behind it. I looked at Jim.

"Weak spot in the board, I guess," I said.

"Yeah... Probably..." Jim said, an incredibly suprised look on his face. "Take you next throw." I walked over to the next javalin and picked it up. I aimed a little bit higher than the center of the target and threw with a weaker force than before. It hit the center again. I looked around at the strange looks everyone was giving me.

"Lucky shot," I said to Jim. I walked over and threw the next javalin, purposefully missing. Then I walked to the next and hit the three ring. I picked up the next and hit the outer ring. I turned to my group of friends. Jeremie pointed to his eye. _Bull's eye, _I thought. I picked up the javalin and threw it at the center of the smallest circle.

"Thirty-four points! That's the highest score we've had today," Jim said, impressed at my score. "Are you this good at aiming everything?"

"I guess," I said. Jim walked to get my javalins and replace the target I tore, and I walked back to my seat beside the others.

"Why didn't you show off?" Odd asked. "It's obvious you could have scored a perfect 60."

"They looked at me funny," I told him. "I didn't want to stand out to much."

"You could have scored at least 50 and looked human but skilled," Jeremie said as the next person walked up and took his turn. I nodded. After the remaining people finished, Jim brought out a set of bows and a quiver of six arrows.

"Next is archery," Jim told us. "Alphabetical order, again. Try to get the highest score. Go." This was a slightly easier task. Everyone made at least one hit. I was up next. "Come on, Stones. The high score is 42. Show them how it is done." I walked to the rack holding the bows. They were assorted from lightest to heaviest draw weight. I picked the heaviest one and walked to the quiver. I picked up an arrow and nocked it. I pulled back and aimed. I released and hit the center. I picked up another and hit the center again. And again. And again. I turned to see the looks on the faces again. I shot at the eight-ring this time. And the seven-ring the next.

"55 points. Good job," Jim said clapping. I walked back to my seat.

"Better," Ulrich said. The rest of the class did their turn.

"Good job, everybody. Class dismissed," Jim said. The class stood and walked back towards the school. "Alex, can I talk to you for a second."

"Of course," I said turning around to talk to him.

"You seem to be pretty athletic. I was wondering if you wanted to join the Archery team."

"I'd be glad to join anything athletic. Sure."

"Well we also have a Pencak Silat class. I believe your friends Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama are in it."

"Sounds fun."

"Okay, the Pencak Silat class meets tonight. See you there." Jim walked back to the field to wait for his next class. I caught up with the others.

"Guess what," I said.

"Jim offered you a place on the Archery team? You had the highest score of anybody there," Odd said.

"Yeah, but he also offered me a chance to try to join Pencak Silat with Ulrich and Yumi," I said.

"Why would he do that?" Jeremie asked.

"I told him I like athletics."

"Just don't go to hard on me," Ulrich said smiling.

"I'll try to weaken up a little bit," I returned the smile. We walked to the cafeteria for lunch. Yumi was already waiting on us. We sat down with her.

"How was gym?" Yumi asked.

"Alex knocked the center out of the target and showed up everyone. Everyone else did as we usually do," Aelita said.

"He was also offered a position in the Archery team and the Pencak Silot class," Ulrich told her.

"Finally we don't have to continue to fight eachother," she said. We ate our food and walked back to the dorm.

"You should join the soccer team, too," Ulrich said on the way there. "We could use a superhuman program on the team. No one would be able to beat us.

"Okay. Anything to look more human," I said with a hint sarcasm to how he refered to me.

We opened the door, walked in, and sat down.

"Pencak Silot class meets at 6," Yumi said.

"Well, we still have three hours," Crystal said. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know about you guys," Jeremie said turning to face his monitor. "But I'm working on adding energy to the virtualization and materialization programs." I took my laptop out of my bag and pluged it into Jeremie's computer. Aelita and Crystal did the same. We sat and worked in somewhat silence.

"I have a question," Odd said. "You have had that laptop for a while now. Where did you get the money?" Jeremie, Crystal, Aelita, and I looked at eachother.

"Um..." I started.

"We were testing out a new version of a program we wrote..." Jeremie said. "After we used it the first time we agreed to only use it in case of emergency..."

"What program?" Ulrich asked.

"We wrote a program to materialize any object on a database or with a clear blueprint," Aelita said. "We tested it with money."

The newly informed members looked at us, mouths agape.

"It took us about two weeks to write the program. We even had to write a special one while dealing with money to change the PIN code on it," I said.

"Well then let's make some money!" Odd said, excited.

"No, Odd. You heard them. Emergency only," Ulrich said. We continued to work.

"Could I at least have enough to buy a second desert?" Odd mumbled. The room gave Odd a look that would say 'Stop', and Odd dropped his head. We continued working and talking for the next three hours about various things. Lyoko, our progress on the energy for the program, and Odd wouldn't drop the 'money making' program. When six o'clock arrived, Ulrich and Yumi stood.

"Come on, Alex. It's time for class," Ulrich said.

"See ya, guys," I said as we left. We walked into the gym.

"Where is everybody?" I asked when we reached our destination.

"We're here," Ulrich said.

"Oh. By the way Jim talked about this class, I figured there would be more people."

"Nope, just us," Yumi said. Jim walked into the gym.

"Welcome, Alex. As I'm sure your friends have told you, this class is all about knowing your enemy," Jim started on another of his usual overdramatic speechs.

"Yes, sir. They have told me your entire speach," I lied, hoping to make this faster.

"Oh.. Well then let's skip to the sparing. Yumi take Ulrich and show Alex how it's done." Yumi walked over to Ulrich and they each got in an attack stance. Yumi kicked at Ulrich's head. He dodged back to avoid the kick, then grabbed Yumi's arm. Yumi stuck her leg behind his and swiped it out from under him. He managed to stay up, but lost grip of her arm. As Ulrich stumbled around gaining balance, Yumi delived a kick to the side of his head, knocking him to the floor. "Okay, Alex. Your turn." I stood up, not knowing what to think. One thing I had learned on Lyoko before coming to earth was combat, in order to protect Aelita. I took a stance. Yumi swung her leg right leg at the left side of my head, as she did Ulrich. I grabbed it with my right hand and spun around, knocking her other leg out from under her.

"That was quick," Jim said. "You're up, Ulrich." Ulrich stood. He stuck for my chest with his fist. I grabbed his arm with one hand, put one leg on his shoulder and the other around his neck, and flipped him onto the ground. "Where did you learn that?!" Jim asked with extream fascination.

"My last school had a really good combat class," I said. Mr. Delmas walked into the class. Ulrich's phone vibrated in his pocket. He turned around and answered it.

"Oh, hello Mr. Delmas. I wasn't expecting you," Jim said putting his hand forth to shake his. Mr. Delmas took his hand and electricity was sent up his arm. His fell to the ground.

"Jeremie said there is an attack," Ulrich said turning around.

"Yeah, we got that," I said standing with the others. Mr. Delmas looked at us and put his hand it the air. I teleported behind him and kicked him in the head. He fell over, dazed but not unconscience. Ulrich and Yumi followed me out the door to the sewers.

"Jeremie said he is going to go ahead and scan Odd, Aelita, and Crystal," Ulrich told us.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

"Right now, the path to the tower has very few monsters. Take advantage," Jeremie said. The OverCar and the OverBoard spawned next to them. Aelita and Crystal climbed into the OverCar and Odd jumped onto the OverBoard. "North." They drove to the tower. There were two Krabs and three Bloks.

"This seems so simple," Odd said flying towards the group

**[The Sewers]**

Mr. Delmas flew at them.

"Go on," Ulrich said turning around into a combat position. "I'll hold him.

Ulrich kicked him in the chest, knocking him back. The others ran and grabbed their skateboards and rode as fast as they could. Mr. Delmas stood up and walked to Ulrich. Ulrich attempted to hit him, but Mr. Delmas grabbed him by the shirt, electricuted him, and tossed him to the other side of the sewer. He then flew after Yumi and Alex.

**[Lyoko]**

Odd flew over the Krabs, devirtualizing one but injuring the other. Crystal drove under the other, and Aelita stuck her hand in the air, shooting a energy field at it. Crystal and Aelita stepped out. Aelita prepared an energy field in each hand, and Crystal grabbed one throwing knife and one long knife. They split up each heading for a Blok. Crystal jumped sideways onto it, stabbing it through the eye. Aelita was shot by a Blok's freeze beam, leg frozen to the terrain. Crystal threw the throwing knife at it and jumped in front of her, blocking a shot into her arm. Aelita shot one of her energy fields at it. Crystal hit the ice, breaking her free. The group turned to look at the tower, just in time to see a Megatank spawn in front of it.

**[The Lab]**

Yumi and Alex slid down the rope. They turned around to see Mr. Delmas standing at the top of the platform.

"Get to Lyoko," Alex said. "He isn't getting past me."

Yumi ran to the elevator and rode down to the scanner room.

"Come on, XANA." Mr. Delmas floated down to where Alex was standing. It started to change into a clone of him. "No fair..."

XANA grabbed Alex's arm. Alex punched him in the neck, causing him to stumble back. Alex jump-kicked him in the chest. XANA stood and charged him. He placed his fingers around Alex's neck and pushed him against a iron beam.

**[Lyoko]**

Odd jumped off of his OverBoard, aiming his wrist at it, waiting for it to open. When it did, Odd fired five shots, all missing.

"Come on, Odd. We don't have time for this," Jeremie said. They each ran around the Megatank as it aimed and shot. Yumi spawned into the air, grabbed her fan, and threw it at the Megatank before she ever hit the ground. It devirtualized.

"Go, Aelita. Alex is in trouble," Yumi said. Aelita ran into the tower, walking calmly upon entering in order to float to the top.

**[The Lab]**

Electricity flowed through Alex, the pain keeping him from teleporting. Alex put both his hands on XANA's arm, trying to loosen the grip, but it was useless. The pain from the electricity was weakening him. The electricity increased.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita placed her hand on the console and typed in the code.

"Return to the past, now."

**(Alex first person)**

We were back in gym, Ulrich on the ground from my takedown. "Where did you learn that?!" Jim asked with the earlier extream fascination.

"My last school had a really good combat class."

"Well, I guess we will continue spawning for this class. We still have another, almost hour."

We continued sparring, cycling through opponents.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**(Alex first person)**

We were in math class. I sat next to Crystal, Jeremie sat next to Aelita, Ulrich sat next to Odd.

"So, as you can see," She said writing the quadratic formula on the chalkboard. "Negative B, plus and minus, B squared, minus four times A times C, over two times A equals the two x-intercepts." The bell rang. "Don't forget. You will have a quiz next week. Class dismissed."

"Another boring class," Odd said.

"Remember, we have two classes today," I said. "French is next." Odd groaned. We walked to the dorms for the time we had between classes. Yumi caught up to us.

"Hey, guys," she said. "You have two classes today, too. Right?"

"Yeah," Ulrich said. "Math and French."

"I just got out of gym. Next I have philosophy."

"Sounds fun," Aelita said. Jeremie unlocked the dorm door, and we walked in and sat down.

"Jim complained the whole class, because no one could beat your score," Yumi told Alex.

"I didn't think it was that hard," I responded.

"We only have a half hour between class," Jeremie said, slowly spinning in his chair. "I can't get hardly anything done in that time."

We talked about various things for the next thirty minutes. When it was time to go, we left the dorm and headed for class. We walked into French class, most of the people already there. We sat down in our usual couples at three close tables. The teacher walked in, and sat in her chair. "Get out a piece of paper and write the words on the screen," she said. Everyone did. "Now define them as best you can." Everyone began to define what words they knew.

"Now can anyone tell me what all of these words have in common?" she asked. Herb raised his hand high in the air, almost standing. Jeremie put his hand up, nonchalantly. "Jeremie." Herb put his hand down and muttered something under his breath. Jeremie's backpack started beeping. We each looked at him.

"Umm... Actually, mam. I was wondering if I could go to the infirmary. I'm feeling a bit light-headed," he said.

"I am too," Aelita said, quickly grabbing her head.

"I'll take Aelita," I said.

"I'll get Jeremie," Odd said.

"I'll help them," both Crystal and Ulrich said.

The teacher looked at us. "Ummm... Sure just hurry back." We stood, grabbed our bags. I put my arm under Aelita's, and Odd put his arm under Jeremie's. Crystal opened the door. As soon as we were outside the room, Odd and I let go of Jeremie and Aelita and took off down the hall to the exit.

"Text Yumi," I told Ulrich. He nodded as I pulled of the manhole lid. We climbed down the ladder into the sewers. We picked up our transportation and rode. When we reached the ladder, we quickly climbed and ran across the bridge. We got into the elevator. Jeremie descended it.

"I got Yumi's message. She said 'She won't let me go'."

"I guess we will have to do this without her." Jeremie said. A wild thought crossed my mind.

"I have an idea," I said. "She is in Philosophy, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I'll go after her." I sat on the floor, the fingers of my right hand overlapping and thumbs touching making a triangle. I seen the class. She sat alone. I teleported next to her.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[School]**

Alex appeared next to Yumi, giving her a slight shake.

"What are you doing?" she asked, extremely surprised.

"Getting you out of here," Alex said. He raised his hand.

"Umm.. Yes?" she asked.

"I understand that we are talking about the historical effects of Plato and Aristotle, but I've been wondering something. How do you know your not in a dream?"

"I'm sorry. I don't understand the question."

"Is there any proof," he started. He teleported to her desk and picked up the apple on her desk. "That we are not in a dream?" She stepped back, not scared, but slightly surprised.

"Ummm... Well... No, I have none..." She said dumbfounded. Alex teleported back to the seat beside Yumi, my feet on the desk, still holding the apple. He took a bite out of it.

"Well, if we have no proof," he said teleporting again, this time to the chair behind her desk. "That this is a dream, then what about proof that this might be a dream?"

"Last time I checked, students didn't beam around my class," she said trying to be humorous.

Alex threw the apple at her, but teleported and caught it inches from her face. She fainted. Yumi stood and she and Alex walked out the door to the park and the sewers.

**[Lyoko]**

Ulrich, Odd, and Crystal spawned in the forest sector, followed by Aelita. The each Over vehicle spawned next to them. They each climbed into their vehicle.

"The tower is south, southwest," Jeremie said. Everyone turned their vehicles around and headed for the tower. "This one is guarded pretty heavily, too." They reached the area of the tower. There were two other paths leading to the same flat, which were each filled with Bloks, Krabs, and Tarantulas. The sky was filled with Hornets. Odd flew ahead of the group, shooting the skys, knocking out five Hornets. Ulrich passed by a group of Bloks, sword outstretched, cutting them each in half. Aelita shot energy fields at Krabs.

"I just got off the phone with Alex," Jeremie said. "He managed to get Yumi. But he said we will have to use a return to the past."

"Any idea what the problem is?" Odd asked flipping off of his OverBoard and onto a Krab.

"Not yet. I'm working on it."

Crystal flipped a switch on the OverCar and jumped out onto a Kankrolot, striking it. Ulrich jumped off the OverBike, deflecting shots from a Krab. He ran at it, still deflecting shots. He jumped into the air and stabbed it. Aelita shot a hornet and a Tarantula. Crystal was shot in the back of her thigh by a Blok. She fell to the ground and rolled over to see it. She grabbed her knife and pointed at the eye. It charged its laser. The OverCar came back to her, hitting the Blok with its front bumper. Crystal placed her feet on the enemy and stabbed it. As it devirtualized, she climbed back inside and flipped the switch off. Alex and Yumi spawned.

"The others are south of your position," Jeremie told them. Yumi started running. Alex wasted no time in meditating and teleporting there. He teleported onto the ground below a Krab and stabbed it through the bottom of its shell. Crystal pulled up next to him and scooted over to the passenger seat. Alex climbed in and accelerated to the largest group of enemies. He changed gears, the metal plates surrounded the tires losing traction. He turned the wheel to go at them at a 90 degree angle. They slid under a large group of Krabs, knocking their legs out from under them. Alex and Crystal stepped out and started jumping to each one, stabbing them. Yumi arrived at the war zone. Aelita drove by and let Yumi drive. Aelita shot at a tarantula but missed. The Tarantula shot and the OverWing, hitting Aelita in the shoulder. She fell to the ground, surrounded by a hoard of Tarantulas and Bloks. Aelita got on her knees. A steady hum filled the flat but transformed into a cry. Large rocks appeared above each monster, crushing them as they fell.

"You guys aren't going to like this," Jeremie said. "I wish I had found out sooner..."

"What is it, Einstein?" Odd asked shooting more Hornets.

"XANA has taken over a nuclear weapons facility and is firing a nuclear missile. You have five minutes before one impacts."

"Copy that, Jeremie," Ulrich said. "Triplicate!" One of him stayed behind to fight monsters. The other two ran to help Aelita. Alex and Crystal had finished devirtualizing the knocked over monsters. They ran back to the OverCar. Alex switched gears and charged back to the battlefield. Odd was running to Aelita. A group of five Kankrolots stood between them. They started to charge their lasers. Odd shot five lasers. Three hit. The two Kankrolots that remained both shot him in the chest. He was devirtualized. Yumi reached Aelita. There were three Tarantulas guarding the tower. Yumi threw both fans at them. They each hit one's eye. The remaining two charged their lasers. Alex drove by, his staff with bladed tip out the door, and charged one, jousting style. Crystal jumped out and landed on the other, knocking it onto its back. She put her knives together in an 'X' fashion and sliced its head off. Aelita ran to the tower.

"Code: Lyoko.." Aelita said.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremie yelled.

**(Alex first person)**

We were back in the dorm.

"We were saved by a minute and twelve seconds," Jeremie told us.

"That's pretty close," Yumi said.

"How did you get Yumi out of class?" Ulrich asked me.

"I made the teacher think she was crazy," I told him. Odd noticed me holding Crystal's hand again.

"When are you going to ask her out?" he bluntly asked. Ulrich elbowed him in ribs. Crystal blushed slightly but was not too embaraced.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When are you going to date her?" he asked.

"I wasn't aware that I had to," I said. "I thought it was like Jeremie and Aelita and Ulrich and Yumi." Ulrich and Yumi blushed and looked away from each other. Jeremie and Aelita also blushed, but looked at each other instead. "I thought when two people knew they liked each other, they were just dating. No one had to ask."

"It's time to go, guys," Ulrich said, quickly changing the subject.

We stood and walked down to our classes.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**(Alex first person)**

We were in the dorm. It was Saturday and we didn't have classes today. Jeremie was working on reading data from our last trip to Carthage. Aelita, Crystal, and I had our laptops connected to his computer, helping sort the data.

"Convert the data into an archived folder," Jeremie told us.

"I got it," I said. I did as he said.

"Aelita, try to encrypt the archive," Jeremie told her.

"Why does it need to be encrypted?" Yumi asked.

"He wants it pre-encrypted for when we go to decrypt the data on the supercomputer," Crystal told her.

"Why does it need to be encrypted, then decrypted?" Odd asked. "Can't he just take it like it is?"

"The supercomputer doesn't read it the same way as his computer does."

"Okay, it's encrypted," Aelita said.

"Crystal, release the inhibitor attributes."

"Anything we can do to help, Einstein," Ulrich asked starting to become bored.

"Yes. Here in a little bit we are going to have to go to the factory. This data was previously encrypted different than most, so we are going to have to activate a tower to decrypt it for us," Jeremie said not moving from his computer. "You guys will have to defend it."

"Inhibitors released," Crystal said.

"Alex, connection."

"Connection, online," I said.

"Send the data."

"Data sent," Aelita said. "The supercomputer has it now." Jeremie turned off his computer. We shut our laptops and stood.

"Come on," Jeremie said opening the door. We each followed suit and walked into the hall. Jeremie locked the door and we set off to the park. I pulled off the lid and the others climbed in. I went in last, pulling the cover back over me. I got to the bottom of the ladder. The others had their transportation in hand. I grabbed my skateboard, and we rode through the sewers. We arrived at the ladder leading to the bridge. I climbed up first, and slid the cover away. The others followed me up. We ran along the bridge and slid down the ropes. We got in the elevator and rode down to the control room.

"The data is all here. Go down to the scanner room. I'm activating a tower in the ice sector."

We rode the elevator to the scanner room. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd climbed in the scanner first.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

The were virtualized next to a tower. They each looked at it. They watched as it turned from blueish to green.

"XANA is going to attempt to take over control of the tower," Jeremie said as the tower started to blink red. "If that doesn't work, he is most likely going to damage the tower until it can't decrypt the files. Here they come." Monsters flooded onto the flat. Ulrich drew his sword. Yumi grabbed her fans. Alex pulled out his staff. Crystal grabbed one throwing knife and one knife. Odd prepared to shoot his laser arrows. Aelita summoned two energy fields. Ulrich ran at the hoard, slicing a Blok in half. Crystal ran behind him, throwing her knife at a Krab. Odd shot at two Hornets. Aelita threw an energy field at a Tarantula. Alex jumped onto a Krab, using it as a sniper point to take out several monsters. Yumi threw a fan, taking out two Kankrolots in one throw. Ulrich jumped into the air to slice a Krab, but was shot in the stomach by it. Yumi threw her fan at the Krab that shot him. Crystal jumped onto a Blok, stabbing it in the eye from on top of it. Odd slid under lasers on his front, aiming at a Tarantula and shooting vigorously. Alex swung at a Kankrolot, knocking it into the digital sea. Yumi handsprang, dodging lasers from a Krab. She jumped into the air to throw her fans at them. One hit directly, but the other missed. The Krab that wasn't devirtualized, shot her in the leg, causing her to fall over. Aelita shot the Krab that hit Yumi. Ulrich ran to her to help her up, but was shot in the back by a Kankrolot, devirtualizing him. Yumi still held his hand until he had disappeared. She jumped up. Odd dove behind an ice rock, dodging shots from a group of Kankrolots. Crystal threw her throwing knife at a Blok. Aelita blocked shots from Kankrolot. Crystal jumped onto a Krab. A Tarantula shot her in the forehead: instant devirtualization. Alex backflip-kicked a Krab off of the area. Yumi, Aelita, and Alex grouped up, back to back, deflecting shots.

"No chance of being healed, now. Hurrying would be nice, Jeremie," Alex said, still deflecting several shots.

"I'm trying," Jeremie said. Yumi ran at Blok, kicking it into the digital sea by backflipping off of it. Alex ran through the hoard, shooting monsters with the laser tip. The group parted. The Scyphozoa floated to Aelita. Aelita tried throwing an energy field at it, but missed. It picked her up.

"Noooo!" Yumi yelled. She ran at it, fan in hand, and jumped into the air. She was shot in the chest by a Krab.

"Alex! Aelita has been grabbed by the Scyphozoa. Alex turned to look at her. As he did, he was shot in the leg by a Tarantula. Monsters surrounded him and shot at him relentlessly.

**[The Lab]**

Yumi had just stepped out of the scanner when Alex was devirtualized. They took the elevator back up to the control room.

"Aelita... is on Lyoko alone... with the Scyphozoa..." Jeremie said. Alex walked over to the computer.

"It's not taking her memory though," Alex said. "If anything it added something." On the monitor, Aelita and the Scyphozoa moved away from eachother.

"Aelita! Aelita! Can you hear me?!" Jeremie yelled into the headset. "She isn't responding." The monsters moved out of Aelita's way as she ran towards the tower.

"She is under XANA's control," Alex said.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Odd said. "Devirtualize her!"

"We can't. Devirtualizing her while she is being controlled by XANA could bug the system and we could lose Aelita for good."

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita walked into the tower. She floated up to the top floor and put her hand on the console.

'CODE' the screen read. The word 'XANA' appeared in red under it. The tower started to disappear around her.

"Uhhhh..." she said when she hit the ground, obviously dazed. "What happened Jeremie?" The ground started to disappear.

**[The Lab]**

"XANA took over you," he said to her. "Aelita, run! The sector is deleting itself! I'll try to devirtualize you."

"Move!" Alex ordered. Jeremie stood up, and Alex took his seat. Alex began typing furiously. The rate of the destruction of the sector caught up to Aelita. She began to fall. Alex finished the devirtualization.

**(Alex first person)**

We rode the elevator down to the scanner room. Aelita fell out of the scanner. Jeremie caught her.

"I- I'm sorry, Jeremie," she said, a tear rolling down her face.

"It's okay, Aelita," he said hugging her.

We went back to the dorm. Aelita sat on Jeremie's bed with Kiwi in her lap. Ulrich and Yumi sat next to her. Jeremie sat in his chair. Crystal and I sat next to eachother, holding hands again. Odd sat in the floor.

"XANA is using Aelita to enter the towers and destroy the sectors," Jeremie said.

"What happened to it?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm not quite sure..." he said. "But it's gone. There is not even the digital aspect of the towers in that sector."

"English, Einstein," Odd said.

"It's like they never even existed. There is no trace of the ice sector. Since he doesn't need Lyoko to live anymore, he can destroy it without any consequences."

"What about the data?" I asked. "Did it get decrypted?"

"Yeah," he said, a slight grin spreading his face. "Wanna know what's ironic? The data was all code on how to destory a sector."

"So... He's been planning this?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah."

"It's getting late," Yumi said standing to stretch. "I'm heading home." She walked out the door.

"I'm going back to my dorm," Crystal said. She kissed my cheek and stood.

"I'll go, too," Aelita said.

"We better go, too," Ulrich said. He tapped Odd with his foot and stood up.

When they had left, Jeremie and I layed down in our beds.

"Do you think there is a way to stop him?" he asked. "I didn't want to show it in front of the others, but I don't know if it will be possible..."

"Of course we will," I told him with confidence. There was a time of silence.

"I never asked you... How long did you know?" he asked.

"Know what?"

"That Aelita wasn't infected. That the antivirus was a waste of time."

"... Forever..."

"I thought you would say that..." His voice seemed worried.

"What's wrong?"

"I just wonder sometimes what could have happened if we had known about it earlier. Maybe when XANA wasn't so powerful... Why didn't you tell us?"

"You were so fixed on shutting down XANA. I couldn't, nor can I now, let you shut down the supercomputer until XANA is destroyed and Franz Hopper is freed."

He paused. "We will get him out, Alex."

"I know."


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**(Alex first person)**

"Is there anything we can do, Jeremie?" Aelita asked. Aelita, Jeremie, Crystal, and I were sitting in the dorm.

"Not yet.. I'd need to know the precise source code for Lyoko. And that's not just something you can find," he responded.

"Could we just make another source code and replace it with the current one?" Crystal asked.

"It's not really that simple. I would need all kinds of data and the data for the ice sector was deleted along with the sector. We would need to talk to Franz, himself."

"The data needs to be completely accurate, too." I said. "Each bit of information responds to the entire system. It isn't exactly easy to get right."

"Come on," Jeremie said looking at his watch. "The others are waiting for us in the cafeteria."

We walked down to the cafeteria for lunch. We walked through the line and sat down next to the others.

"Any luck?" Ulrich asked.

"It doesn't have anything to do with luck," I said, slightly depressed. "It doesn't have to do with anything. There isn't any way to do anything about it yet."

"Nothing?" Odd said between bites of food.

"Nothing," Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I all said in unison. "The ice sector is lost." Everyone looked sad.

"So what classes do we have, today?" I said trying to lighten the mood. I already knew the answer.

"Gym..." Ulrich said. My attempt to ease the tension had failed.

We finished our meal in silence. No one made another attempt at conversation. After we were done, we walked to our classes. We walked to the soccer field. Jim stood at the stands.

"Today, we will have a game of soccer," Jim said when everyone sat down. Jeremie took a forged note out of his backpack and handed to him.

"Please excuse Mr. Belpois from gym activities today. He is not feeling well. Signed, Jean-Pierre Delmas." he read. "Fine, Belpois, take a seat. That works out great, anyway. Now we have two teams of six. Stern! You and Thomas will be team leaders." Joshua Thomas was another person on the soccer team. "Stern, pick."

At the end of the choosing, the teams were: Team 1: Ulrich, me, Crystal, Aelita, Justin Augustine, and Luke Vipond. The other team was: Joshua Thomas, David Allard, Odd, Andrew Faure, Arthur High, and Michael Denis, in that order. Luke was our teams goal keeper, and Arthur was theirs.

"Thomas gets the ball first," Jim said. Joshua and David walked up to the center of the field. David pushed the ball over to Joshua. Odd, Andrew, and Michael stayed behind as defence. Joshua ran up the center of the field. He kicked the ball to David, but Crystal slid into the path and kicked the ball to Ulrich. Ulrich and I ran towards the other teams goal. Ulrich was stopped by Andrew. He rainbowed the ball over Andrew's head. As he stood looking into the air, Ulrich ran around him and bicycle-kicked the ball to me. Odd stood in front of me. I rolled my foot over the ball moving it slightly left. As Odd moved to counter my move, I rolled the ball backwards, turned around, and circled the ball around him, then I kicked the ball into the net.

"GOAL!" Jim yelled. Ulrich and I high-fived and walked back to the center of the field. David rolled the ball to Joshua, again. He ran as fast as he could at me. When he was within a foot of me, he passed the ball to David. David kicked the ball at the goal. Luke dived to catch it but missed by a couple of inches.

"Score: 1 to 1," Jim called out to the field. We walked back to the center of the field. Ulrich held the ball with his foot. I felt a small rock hit me in the side of the head.

"Ow.." I muttered. I looked in the direction it was thrown. Jeremie looked at me and mouthed the word 'XANA'. I nodded and tapped Ulrich shoulder and looked at Jeremie. He nodded at me. Jeremie pulled out his phone.

"I'll tell the others," he wispered. "Make a distraction." He passed the ball to me then ran back to see Aelita and Crystal. Ulrich not being on the front line got Odd's attention. He looked at Jeremie. Andrew walked up to me. I dribbled the ball between my feet. As he went to stop my feet, I dashed around him. I reared back and kicked the ball directly at the other team's keeper's head as hard as I could. The impact made him leave his feet, and he was sent back into the goal.

"Two to one," Jim said. "Arthur? You alright, High?" Jim ran to him, along with the rest of the class. We seized the opportunity and ran to the park. Yumi was waiting there. Ulrich pulled the lid off of the manhole and we climbed down. I grabbed my Skateboard, and rode through the sewers along with the others. We reached the ladder and climbed up. We ran across the bridge. Odd jumped onto the rope and slid down. I put my hands out to stop the others.

"Wait!" I ordered. Everyone looked over the edge. There were hundreds of mechanical beasts. I teleported down to the bottom and threw Odd back to the top, then teleported back up. "Go!" We climbed down the ladder and down to the island. We ran into the basement of the factory.

"This part of the factory is cut off from the rest of it," Jeremie said. I picked up a five foot long metal rod. Ulrich did the same.

We climbed down a ladder into the control room.

"The tower is in the mountain sector. Head down to the elevator room," Jeremie said.

"I'll stay here," I said. "It's only a matter of time until the monsters get here."

"Roger that," Odd said. Ulrich pushed the access button. The door opened. A wild screech was heard. One of the robotic beasts were there, on all fours I ran over to it, placing my metal rod under its chin and pushed it against the wall. Ulrich stabbed it through the head. It fell over.

"Hurry," I said.

"Be careful," Crystal said, kissing me on the cheek.

"You, too," I said, walking out of the elevator.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita and Crystal spawned next to Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich.

"The tower is north," Jeremie said. "Keep Aelita under constant watch. I don't want to lose the mountain sector, too."

"Got it, Jeremie," Odd said.

"Here come your vehicles." They each mounted their vehicles. Aelita climbed in the OverCar with Crystal. They each drove to the flat with the activated tower. The good thing about this particular flat was that it only had one entrence. Yumi pulled over to defend that path. Ulrich stood on his OverBike, sword in hand, and jumped over a Krab, frontflipping in air, and sliced the Krab in half. He landed on his vehicle. Odd shot a Tarantula, then flew around the tower. Aelita shot an energy field at a Hornet that was in pursuit. Crystal pulled the knife off of her shoulder and stuck it out the side as they passed a Blok. Yumi threw her fans at two Tarantulas that were walking on the path towards the tower. Before they were hit, they shot at her. Yumi managed to dodge them all, however, one rogue laser hit Ulrich's OverBike, devirtualizing it out form under him. Ulrich fell, still grabbing his sword, and rolled across the ground. A Krab shot him in the leg. He stood up. Odd flew over it and shot it in the eye.

**[The Lab]**

The roars of the mechanical beasts could be heard from anywhere in the lab. The ceiling shook violently. Jeremie typed on the computer.

"I'm starting the return to the past process. I want it to be ready when they deactivate the tower," he said. "We may need to use it in a hurry."

**[Lyoko]**

Crystal flipped the switch to the homing device. Her and Aelita jumped out. Aelita shot at Bloks. Crystal was deflecting shots from a Tarantula. She was shot in the hand, losing grip on the knife in her left hand. She charged at it, arms around its stomach area, and jumped off the cliff with it. She put her arms out, spread-Eagle. The OverCar flew under her, catching her within feet of the digital sea. She turned off the homing device. Ulrich stood next to Aelita, blocking shots from a Krab and a Blok. Aelita charged an energy field. Ulrich ducked, and Aelita shot at the Krab.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich yelled. He charged the Blok. Yumi flipped onto a Krab. She threw both of her fans down at it.

**[The Lab]**

The ceiling broke in. Two of the beasts fell in to the control room. Alex charged them both. He hit one into the wall and pushed the other one against the wall with his rod in its head. The other one came at him from behind. Alex teleported behind it and pushed it into the wall, holding its head against the wall with the rod. Unknown to Alex, another monster fell into the room.

"Alex, look out!" Jeremie warned. Alex stabbed the beast he was holding, but was not fast enough to stop the one from behind. It took a bite into his left wrist. Alex let out a scream that Jeremie hadn't been able to compare to anything he had ever heard. Jeremie approached from behind with the rod Ulrich had left behind, and knocked the head off of the beast. Alex slid down the wall.

"Let me take a look at it, Alex," Jeremie said. When Alex moved his right hand from his left. But when Jeremie looked, the only thing he saw was a stub, bleeding excessively. "Oh, no..." He ran back to the computer. "Aelita, hurry! Alex is hurt really badly."

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita ran for the tower, Ulrich beside her to deflect shots. She ran in. When she was on the inside, she walked to the center and floated to the top. She typed in the code.

**[The Lab]**

Alex was starting to pass out from shock.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremie yelled.

**(Alex first person)**

I sat on my bed. Everyone was there this time. My right hand was holding Crystal's left. My left sat in my lap, locked in my vision. I couldn't help but look at it. It was luck that I still had it.

"Looks a lot better without all the blood, huh?" Jeremie said.

"I still can't believe how close we came that time. I could have died from blood loss."

"Come on," Jeremie said trying to change the subject. "Lunchtime." We all walked down to the cafeteria and ate our lunch.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**(Alex first person)**

"Wake up," Ulrich said. I rolled over to see Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and Crystal standing there. I looked at my watch.

"It's three in the morning. Go back to bed," I said rolling back over.

"Jeremie is at the factory. He wants us to meet him there. Yumi is on her way," Aelita said.

"Did he say what it was?"

"He said he found something," Ulrich said. "And he needs us there now."

I sat up and put my shoes on. "Fine. But it better be inportant." We walked outside, Odd and Ulrich holding flashlights, and into the park. I pulled off the lid. Ulrich climbed in first, Odd last. We rode through the sewers. Odd climbed up the ladder, Ulrich being last, and we ran across the bridge. We slid down the rope, got in the elevator, and went down to the control room. Jeremie was sitting in the chair. Yumi was standing next to him.

"What took you so long?!" he yelled.

"I'm tired, that's what," I said.

"XANA has assembled huge army. I was able to steal their last command. I have the coordinates. Get to the scanner room."

"Hold on a sec. Mind explaining, Einstein?" Odd asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, yet. But what I do know is that there is a part of sector 5 that contains all of the data of Lyoko. Or what's left of it, at least. XANA is sending a hugh army to attack it."

"That's all we need," Ulrich said. We all walked over to the elevator.

"I'll virtualize you as close as I can to the edge of the forest sector," Jeremie called as the door closed.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Alex, Crystal, and Aelita were virtualized next to Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd. The Overvehicles spawned next to there respective drivers. Aelita got on the OverWing.

"The edge is west," Jeremie said. Everyone drove towards the indicated direction. "The path is clear, but Carthage is filled with monsters." We arrived at the tip of the forest sector.

"Scipio," Jeremie said typing in the code. The transporter swooped down and picked them up, carrying them away towards the center of Lyoko.

"Good thing we decided to do this before breakfast," Odd said clutching his stomach.

"The countdown is started," Jeremie said as they ran through the opening in the wall. The room opened up. There were podiums, spiraling up to the top of the room. Each one was moderately spaced from the previous one. At the top, the key sat perched on a wall, a large distance between the wall and the previous podium.

"Jeremie, we found the key," Crystal said. "I'm going after it."

Crystal hopped onto the first podium. Then she ran to the edge, prepared to jump, then frontflipped onto the next. On the ground, the walls opened up, revealing a massive hoard of Creepers. Crystal continued to hop up the podiums, flipping or handspringing onto the next one.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich yelled running at the group, swinging his sword to take out several. Odd and Alex fired into the group. Aelita shot an energy wave, taking out a dozen or more. Yumi threw her fans. Crystal was slowly getting closer to the top. Alex hit the front legs out from under a Creeper, causing it to fall on its face. He switched to his blade tip and stabbed it. A Creeper shot Ulrich in the leg. He fell over. The same Creeper came over to him and opened its mouth. Ulrich put his sword in its mouth, horizonatly, blocking it from shooting him. He applied force and cut its head in half. Aelita blocked shots with two energy fields. Yumi jumped off of Odd's back, into the air, and threw both fans at them. Ulrich stood up and cut the head off of a Creeper and dug his sword into the forehead of another. Odd ran into the group. He was surrounded by a thin ring of the monsters. He jumped over one. Each of the Creepers fired, destroying the entire ring. Alex changed both ends of his staff into blades. He stabbed one in the eye, then stabbed it into the head of another with the other end and swung around it kicking another against the wall. Yumi threw a fan at it. Yumi was deflecting shots with her other fan. She threw it at the Creeper. When she had released the fan, she was shot in the arm by another. Aelita shot it. Crystal reached the top.

"It's too far," she said. "I won't be able to make it."

"Hold them," Alex said. He teleported up to the top. He got down on his knee and put his hands together. She ran at him and put one foot in his hand and jumped at the key, arm outstretched. She started to fall short. She pulled out one knife and stabbed it into the wall. She pulled out the other and used it to climb up to it. She hit the key. She pulled her knives out of the wall. Alex teleported to the bottom, shrunk his staff and put it in his clip, and caught Crystal.

"Wheew," Jeremie said. "That fall would have devirtualized her. We are going to need as many fighters as possible. The wall opened up to a small platform. The elevator swung by. Everyone jumped on. The elevator stopped at the platform leading to the outside. Jeremie virtualized the vehicles.

"I'm not exactly sure how to get in there, but the room you are looking for is under the arena," Jeremie said.

"Manta's are spawning," Ulrich said as everyone got in there vehicles. The mantas didn't attack, though.

"Jeremie, they're leaving," Yumi said.

"Follow them," Jeremie suggested. They followed the Mantas down to the bottom of the Celestrial dome. They observed a teeth-like hole that was repetitavely opening and closing. They flew in after them. Inside there were several pillers jutting out from the wall to form several staircases. They dismounted their vehicles. There were several Creepers lined up on the sides of the stairs, and Mantas surrounding a sphere with two cubes around it, shooting it. The first cube broke. The walls were streaked with red for a few seconds.

"Stop them!" Jeremie said.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich yelled. He ran up the side of one staircase, his sword out to his side. He had cleared out an entire staircase. Yumi ran up another, kicking some off, slicing some's head. One Creeper turned around and shot her chest. She started to fall off the side, down towards the hole. Ulrich jumped at her, still supersprinting, and grabbed her, landing on the ground area. Ulrich lay on top of her. They both smiled at eachother. Alex ran up another staircase, swinging his staff at them. One turned around and aimed at him. He teleported behind it, and Crystal threw a knife at its head. Odd ran up the staircase that Yumi and fallen from with Aelita. Odd kicked one's back off. Another turned around and aimed at him. Aelita fired an energy field at it. Ulrich and Yumi got up and ran along a staircase. Everyone continued fighting the Creepers until they had reached the top. Odd shot a laser arrow at one. Crystal threw a knife at another. Ulrich jumped onto the last, his sword in blade-down position, and stabbed the last one. As it was devirtualized, Ulrich fell, only to be caught by Yumi's hand.

"They're all gone, Jeremie," Aelita said.

"Okay, I'm bringing you in."

**(Alex first person)**

"Anything to worry about?" Ulrich asked.

"No," Jeremie said. "The shields will heal on their own, and I've already modified the superscan to detect if the core is attacked. And after an attack like that, XANA is going to be pretty tired. It takes a lot of energy to spawn that many monsters."

"Do you have any idea how much sleep I missed?!" I asked looking at my watch. It was time for breakfast.

"Let's go," Odd said. "I'm hungry."

We walked out of the lab and back to the elevator and back to school for breakfast.

**Post AN: I wanted to go ahead and announce an idea. Whenever I get to the 4th season (It will take a while but I will eventually) I will not have William possessed by XANA. Instead, there will be a Dark William. William will also be connected to Lyoko the same way Aelita was: a stolen fragment. I wanted to ask what other people thought about this way before I actually got there so that I would know what people thought about it. If I get positive comments about this idea, that is what I will do. Leave your thought in the comments.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**AN: I just wanted to start this story by responding to the review I had on my question.  
To squirmyorchid: If you have ever seen Code Lyoko: Evolution, then you know that William is not a jerk, since he is no longer competing with Ulrich. He is, however, a very good fighter. He is also very respected and an important member in the group. Don't forget to review.**

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I sat in the dorm, each of us connected to his computer.

"Have you initiated the connection protocol?" Jeremie asked Aelita.

"Yes," she answered. "The program has been connected."

"Crystal, adjust the required energy. We need to keep it as high as possible, but it can't take all of the supercomputer's energy."

"Got it."

"Alex, have you finished the programming?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll burn it to a disk once Crystal is finished with the energy."

"It's finished."

"Okay, it's done," Jeremie said just as the others walked in.

"What's done?" Odd asked. We looked at each other. A slightly angry look spread his face. "Oh, I see how it is. The inner circle, huh?"

"No, Odd, it's not like that," Jeremie said. "We were just kinda hoping it would be a surprise."

"Well, what is it?" Ulrich asked.

"You remember last week, when XANA took over Jim and I had to run for it?"

"Yeah. What about it?" Yumi asked,

"Well, we were each thinking, 'What if someone fell off of the sector and no one was there to devirtualize them'. So we started working on a way to control the supercomputer from inside Lyoko."

"Cool!" Odd said cheering up. "Do we all get one, whatever it is?"

"Ummm... No..." I said.

"Why not?!" Odd asked, partially yelling.

"Because none of you know how to use the supercomputer," Crystal said.

"Then why haven't you taught us?" Odd asked Jeremie.

"Because last time I gave one of you a simple task on the supercomputer, Yumi virtualized me into digital Limbo and I sat there withering away," Jeremie said with a slight yell in his voice. "I think it would be best if Aelita, Crystal, and Alex got one." Everyone nodded.

"Let's go," Ulrich said motioning to the door. "Breakfast time. Then we have math."

"Afterwards, we can go to the lab and test the program," Aelita said as we all stood up. We went down to the cafeteria and walked through the line.

"So what will the program look like?" Yumi asked as we sat down.

"Exactly like the console in Carthage," Aelita said.

"It had to be that way, otherwise, Alex wouldn't be able to see it," Jeremie said.

"Originally, it was going to be a watch-like tool," Crystal said.

"That would have been pretty cool," Odd said. We finished our breakfast and walked down to math class, except Yumi who went to gym. We walked in early, the only other people there were Sissy and her group. We completely ignored them and sat down in our usual pairs. Aelita pulled Mister Puck out of her shirt pocket. She had been carrying it a lot recently.

"Still playing with dolls?" Sissy asked in her usual 'better than you' tone. Aelita looked up.

"Still being followed by knuckle-dragging Neanderthals?" she responded, mimicking Sissy's tone. Sissy grabbed Mister Puck. Aelita stood up as she held Mister Puck above her head.

"Give it back!" Aelita yelled.

"No I don't think I will," Sissy said. Aelita pushed her back. Then came the part that made even Herb and Nicholas gasp. Sissy reared back and slapped Aelita. Aelita fell back down in her chair, a couple of tears coming down her cheek. I stood, not taking my eyes off of Aelita, and walked over to them. I wiped her cheek with my left hand and picked Sissy off the ground by the coller of her shirt with my right. I grabbed her hand that contained Mister Puck and twisted it. She immediately dropped it. I let go of her hand and caught it instantly and handed it to Aeltia.

"Don't touch Aelita again," I said. I dropped her. Her heeled shoes made her lose her balance and fall to the ground. I turned back to Aelita who was surrounded by the others.

"Wait till daddy hears about this," she muttered.

"Go ahead, tell your dad!" I yelled, turning back to face her. "Wait till he hears about how you hit another student!" This made her think and she lost her feeling of being better than someone.

Everyone took their seats. The rest of the class filled in.

"Okay, everybody," The teacher said when she arrived. "Today, we will be talking about parabolas and double parabolas." Aelita, Jeremie, and I sat through the class, already knowing everything about the subject. Crystal and Ulrich paid attention. Odd doodled.

After class, we went back to the dorm. Yumi waited by the door. I unlocked the door and we walked in. Jeremie grabbed the disk.

"Ready to go," he said. We walked out the door and down the hall. We walked outside. We checked around to make sure no one was watching then took off for the park. I picked up the lid and let the others climb in before climbing in after them and closing the manhole. Everyone grabbed their transportation and rode through the sewers. We climbed up the ladder and ran across the bridge. We slid down our ropes and into the factory. We activated the elevator and went down into the control room. Jeremie put the disk into the drive and opened the disk program window. The screen showed a square, then it slid over to show a green exclamation mark.

"Okay, the program initialized. Go down to the scanner room," Jeremie said.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Alex, Crystal, and Aelita spawned in the forest sector.

"Okay, guys. We have to make sure this program doesn't have any bugs," Jeremie said. Everyone looked at their left hand. On Alex's glove, there was a small, light blue square. On Crystal's left hand, she had a ring with a small, light blue gem. Aelita's wrist had a light blue bracelet. They all sat down on the ground in a circle, legs crossed. They waved there hand in front of them and a console appeared. "Alex, try to virtualize everyone," Jeremie said. Seconds later, the group virtualized onto Lyoko. "Okay, Aelita, virtualize the vehicles." Everyone's vehicles spawned next to them. "Crystal, try to get a visual on the sector." She opened the map on her console.

"Got it." On each of the three's consoles, a new window opened automatically.

"What's that?" Ulrich asked.

"Superscan," Alex said. "Activated tower." Everyone waved their hand as if to grab the console. They jumped in their vehicles.

"What is it, Jeremie?" Yumi asked. There was no answer.

**[The Lab]**

The Lab shook. The ceiling caved in and landed around the computer. Jeremie jumped up and dove under his chair, barely missing the debris. During the movement, his headset dropped to the floor and was crushed.

"It's up to them..." he said.

**[Lyoko]**

"Something serious must have happened. Let's hurry up and deactivate that tower," Alex said. Crystal reopened her panel.

"The activated tower is in the desert sector," she said reading the superscan. "The waytower is north of here." No sooner than she had said that, everyone accelerated in that direction. "It looks like a lot of monsters around the activated tower."

"We're ready for them," Alex said. They reached the waytower and they traveled through it. They came out in the desert sector. Alex shifted gears.

"The tower is west of here," Crystal said when they came out. It was on the next platform. Tarantulas surrounded the tower, standing beside them were Krabs, in front of their ranks were a row of about fifteen Kankrolots. Crystal wiped away her console.

"I got the Kankrolots," Alex said. He drifted onto the battlefield. Crystal jumped out. Alex drove to the end of the row. The hoard of them turned to aim at him, but he had driven over them before they had time to shoot. The others drove in past the devirtualizing monsters. Ulrich drew his sword. He drove under a Krab and cut off its legs. Crystal jumped onto it and stabbed it, then backfilled off as it devirtualized. Yumi deflected shots from hitting Aelita. Aelita threw an energy field at a Tarantula. Alex charged the next line with his staff's blade tip. He hit one Tarantula in the head and jumped out of the OverCar. Ulrich ran at the enemies, his sword in hand.

"Triplicate!" he yelled. Each one of him jumped onto a Krab, taking out the rest of the Krabs. Yumi and Aelita jumped off of the OverWing. Yumi did a no-hand cartwheel. During her third cartwheel, she threw her fan at the Tarantulas. It went at them, taking out one, then came back around the tower and took out another. Odd jumped over a Krab and shot at it from above. Crystal jumped onto a Tarantula's head and stabbed it through both sides of the head. Alex hid behind a rock. He opened his console and opened the camera view of the lab.

"Guys, the lab collapsed," Alex yelled closing his console. "We need to hurry! Jeremie could be suffocating for all we know." He ran back out to the war zone. He swung his staff up to hit a Tarantula's body. "Get Aelita into the tower." Alex hit the stun on the ground, stunning most of the enemies around him. Ulrich grabbed Aelita's wrist and ran at the tower, deflecting shots with the sword in his right hand. They reached the tower where Alex was stabbing stunned monsters. Aelita ran inside. Alex backed up, blocking Crystal from shots with his staff. Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd ran around destroying the monsters. Everyone watched as the aura of the tower changed colors.

"Crystal, activate the return to the past," Alex said jumping in front of her, hitting a laser back at the monster that fired it. Crystal waved her hand to open her console. She entered the data.

"Return to the past, now," she said.

**(Alex first person)**

We were all inside of the dorm. Jeremie sat in his chair.

"How did he do it, Jeremie?" Odd asked.

"I don't know, he must have created some sort of structural weakness."

"It's a good thing we finished the program when we did," Crystal said. "We wouldn't have known about the activated tower, nor where it was."

"Yeah," he said.

"It's breakfast again," Odd said changing the subject.

We walked out of the dorm and down the hall.

"Hey, Alex, are you going to deal with Sissy the same way?" he said.

"No," I said. "I told you I'm not going to allow her to hit her. I'll catch her arm this time." We walked down to the cafeteria and ate our breakfast.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**(Alex first person)**

We were in the dorm on a free day. Everyone was there.

"So, what are you guys planning on doing, today?" Odd asked.

"I'm not working on anything, currently, so I'm open to ideas," Jeremie said.

"I don't have anything planned, today," Crystal said.

"Me either," Aelita said.

"I go with the group," I said.

"Well, we could always go to the pool," Ulrich said.

"Fine by me," I said. Everyone else nodded their head in agreement.

"Let's go, then," Odd said. We all stood up. Yumi ran home to grab her bathing suit. Everyone else grabbed their bathing suits and went to the bathroom to change. Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie, and I got out early.

"It might take them a while," Ulrich said. "Let's go on down and wait." The four of us walked down to the swimming pool and sat down on a bench. There was no one else in the pool room. We waited about ten minutes.

"When are they gonna be h-" Ulrich started before he spotted something. Yumi, Aelita, and Crystal walked in together. Jeremie and I looked in the direction Ulrich was. Each of our mouthes popped open slightly. Odd sat back and grinned at the look on our face. They were each amazing in each of our eyes. I could see the look on their faces, slightly embarrassed, yet proudly walking to show off. When they reached us, Jeremie, Ulrich, and I each stood up to give them our seats on the small bench. They each smiled at us, thankful for our generosity, but mostly being flirtatious.

"Are you guys going to actually swim while we are in here?" Odd asked.

"No," I said.

"Nah," Ulrich said.

"I'm good," Jeremie said. Odd rolled his eyes.

"Well, I am," he said getting up.

"Good," Ulrich said getting off the ground and sitting in his spot, which happened to be next to Yumi. I walked over and grabbed another bench and pulled it over to the others. Aelita scooted over and let me and Jeremie have room on the bench to sit next to them. I held Crystal's hand on the bench, as did Jeremie. Ulrich held Yumi's hand, but behind there back. He looked around, thinking no one noticed, but as soon as they moved their hands behind them, I turned my head to avoid them being embarrassed. I liked the idea of Ulrich and Yumi dating, as did everyone. Everyone knew they both liked each other. They just weren't willing to admit it to everyone else. I'd seen them. I was restless one night, so I decided to check on everyone with my long distance seeing. Ulrich snuck out of his dorm one night. I had watched him walk outside and out to the gate to meet Yumi. They smiled at each other and looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then they kissed. He held her hand and walked through town. I knew of what they did, even if they hadn't wanted anyone to know about it. Sneaking out at least twice a week to meet her by the gate for a kiss. He had done a good job of keeping it a secret. As a matter of fact, if it hadn't been for my ability to see distantly, no body would have ever known. We sat there for about twenty minutes.

"Ready to swim yet?" Aelita asked.

"When you are," Jeremie said. They both stood up, still holding hands.

"I am, too," Yumi and Crystal said in coincidental unison. We stood up, Ulrich making sure to let go of Yumi's hand first. We walked down to the stairs into the pool. Odd swam over to us.

"Finally decide to get in?" he jokingly asked Ulrich, Jeremie, and I. He knew that we hadn't chosen. We could have sat there all day, had they not wanted to come in. We swam back and forth along the pool. Jim walked in.

"Hey, Jimbo," Odd said, swimming over to the edge of the pool. Jim didn't respond. He came over to the edge where Odd was. He reached down, picked him up out of the pool, and shocked him.

"It's a specter!" Jeremie yelled. Jim threw Odd against the wall, leaving him unconscience. Everyone else ran out of the pool room, dripping with water. We ran down the hall and into the boiler room. We got on our transportation and rode through the sewers. We climbed up the ladder onto the bridge. We slid down the ropes and into the elevator. The air inside was cold against our skin. Jeremie sat in the chair, still dripping wet and freezing cold.

"The tower is in the mountain sector," Jeremie said. We walked down into the scanner room.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Alex and Aelita spawned between Ulrich, Yumi, and Crystal. There vehicles spawned almost instantly. They got in.

"The tower is east," Jeremie said. "Hurry. Jim is probably on his way right now." They each drove in the directed direction.

**[School]**

Odd woke up, just as Jim opened the door. He stood up, grabbing his stomach, still in pain from being tossed around. He charged at Jim while his back was turned. He jumped on his back and put his arms around his neck. The specter started to fall back, stumbling around the room. Odd twisted as it began to fall, leaving it falling into the pool, however, Odd wasn't fast enough to keep from falling into the pool. The entire pool became electrified, leaving Odd unconscience again, floating in the pool.

**[Lyoko]**

They arrived at the area of the tower. There were monsters surrounding it in layers. Tarantulas on the inside, then Krabs, then Bloks, then Kankrolots. Hornets filled the skies.

"Wow, that's a lot..." Ulrich said.

"We will do this as always," Alex said accelerating towards the hoard. He stuck his staff with bladed tip out, shortened. Crystal stuck her knife out. They left a wide path for the others to follow. Ulrich drove behind them. He turned and went after a Blok. He slalomed between two and jumped onto a Krab. While he was in air, a Tarantula shot his OverBike. He cut the Krab down the center, but when he tried to land on the OverBike, instead landed on his bottom. Yumi came in and started throwing her fans. Aelita used an energy wave to take out several monsters. Alex turned around, drifting and drove back at the swarm. A Blok shot the OverCar. Both, Alex and Crystal fell to the ground. Alex pulled out his staff and Crystal pulled out both knives. They were surrounded by Krabs. There were to many of them to take out the simple way. Alex hit his staff on the ground to stun them. It wasn't good enough. When they ran to attack, a Blok shot under the row of Krabs and shot both people in the chest.

"There isn't much you can do for me, Alex," Crystal said as they blocked shots. "They need you. Go." Alex teleported out of the circle. No later than he had done that, Crystal was shot in the back and was devirtualized. Alex teleported next to Ulrich. They stood back to back. They were surrounded, but not as closely as he was standing next to Crystal. There were Bloks around them.

"Supersprint!" Ulrich said. He ran around the circle and cut each Blok in half. Behind them was a layer of Kankrolots. One shot hit Ulrich in the ankle. Alex spun his staff around on the ground, knocking out the ones closer to him. Ulrich deflected some shots back at some and stabbed the last one. A Tarantula shot Ulrich in the forehead, sending him back off of his feet and devirtualizing him. Yumi was deflecting shots. A Kankrolot shot the OverWing out from under her and Aelita. They both fell to the ground. Alex teleported to them. As soon as he did, a Krab shot him in the shoulder. He fell back onto the ground, his staff rolled out of his hand. Aelita was shot in the leg by a Kankrolot. She immediately shot an energy field at it. The Krab walked over to Alex and put its leg over him. Alex caught it as it started to lower it to crush him. Yumi moved her fans wildly to protect Aelita. As she did, she was shot in the chest. She stumbled back and was shot in the back, devirtualization. The Scyphozoa floated through the crowd to Aelita. Aelita tried to run but her path was blocked by a row of Bloks.

"Alex, Aelita is being picked up by the Scyphozoa!" Jeremie said.

"I've got problems, too," he said. He couldn't teleport while touching someone, or a monster. The Scyphozoa dropped Aelita, her eyes red from XANA. Alex rolled over and let the arm hit the ground. He grabbed his staff and shot up at the Krab. He looked around. Aelita was running for the tower. He teleported in front of her and jumped on her, holding her neck down with his staff and holding her wrists down with his knees.

"What do we do now, Jeremie?" he asked.

"I'll try to free her memory, but it will take a lot of time," he said. Aelita charged an energy field in her right hand at touched it to Alex.

**[The Lab]**

Alex rode the elevator to the control room.

"Out of the way," Alex said to Jeremie. He stood up. Alex typed at the computer, opening several windows. He opened Aelita's memory configuration. On Lyoko, Aelita had just stood up and started running for the tower again. Alex opened the file allowing XANA to control Aelita. The monitor started to glitch. "No..." Alex said.

"What's going on?" Ulrich asked.

"He didn't only take over Aelita," Alex said. "He glitched her configuration. Once XANA takes over Aelita, it's all over." The look on everyone's face was pure fear. "I'll go ahead and start the devirtualization process..."

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita walked into the tower and floated to the top. She entered the code 'XANA'. As the tower started to devirtualized, she fell. She hit the ground and regained conscienceness. No sooner than that, Alex devirtualized her.

"Return to the past, now..." Alex said.

**(Alex first person)**

We were back in the dorm.

"XANA now has the ability to destroy the sectors and there isn't anything we can do about it..." Aelita said.

"All he has to do is take you over and he is free to do as he please," Jeremie said.

"Before long, there will only be Carthage," Ulrich said.

"I will start working on a way to virtualize directly into Carthage," Jeremie said.

"From now on, at least two people shall be guarding Aelita at all times," I said.

Everyone sat in silence.

"Losing the Mountain sector isn't bad enough to not bad enough to not have fun, today," Odd said. "Let's go to the pool!" Everyone cheered up a bit and went to get their bathing suits on and go the the pool room.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**AN: If anyone posts their favorite episode in the third season (and I find it to be an interesting episode) that isn't about the destruction of a sector, or one of the prequel episodes, I will redo that episode with my character whenever I reach that point in the story line. Comment your favorite episode in the third season. I am already redoing 'Final Round'. I will also be doing this for season four. I understand that there aren't many episodes to do in the third season, but there is always season four, so comment your favorite episodes.**

**(Alex first person)**

We were in the dorm. Crystal, Aelita, and I were connected to Jeremie's computer.

"What are you guys doing, this time?" Odd asked.

"We need a way to virtualize directly into Carthage," I said.

"Crystal," Jeremie said. "Have you finished removing sector five's blockage program?"

"Not yet," she said. "It is password protected and has a Cryptographic hash encryption."

"Are you sure about the encryption type?" Jeremie asked.

"Positive," she said.

"There isn't a single thing we can do about it from here, then," Jeremie said rubbing his forehead. "We will have to go after class."

"Why can't you guys crack a 'Cryptographic hash' whatever?" Ulrich asked.

"We would need to know the password in order to get in," Aelita said. "The way that it is encrypted is by taking the password and encrypting in a bit-hash. It then takes the hash and-"

"I didn't need details," Ulrich said. "'We need a password' is fine."

"Did you try 'SCIPIO'?" Yumi asked.

"We tried SCIPIO, CARTHAGE, HOPPER, FRANZ, AELITA... We tried everything we could think of," Jeremie said. "The only thing we can do is get rid of the program at the source."

"We have to go," I said looking at my watch. "Science is in five minutes."

We walked into Science class. We took our usual seats.

"Are we still following the rule of 'two people guarding Aelita at all times'?" Odd asked, mimicking my voice. I turned to look at him.

"We will take any necessary precautions to keep Aelita safe and Lyoko running," I said sternly.

"There is something I've been wanting to ask," Jeremie said leaning up to talk to me. "Aelita said that you had a 'grapnel hook' attachment to your staff. Why haven't you ever used it?"

"Aelita's memory wasn't the only thing lost when the computer was turned back on," I said. "I used to have the ability to make anything out of the tip of my staff. Grapnel hook, claw, shield, anything."

The class filled in, but without a teacher. Jim walked in.

"Excuse me, class," he said. "Ms. Hertz is sick, and she wanted me to inform you that we will be in my class, today." Some people groaned, but Ulrich and I smiled. Everyone picked up their bags and walked down the hall to the gymnasium.

"Today we will be playing a good, ol' fashion game of dodgeball," Jim said. "I'm sure I don't have to explain the rules to you. The game is simple. Don't get hit, hit the other team. No head shots. My class against Ms. Hertz class." Each class stood on their side of the room. Jim picked up a large bucket of about twenty dodgeballs and rolled them across the floor. "Go!" Most members of each team, including Ulrich, Odd, Crystal, and me, ran up to the line. When we got there, the majority of us that weren't hit out by the other team, picked up one or two balls and ran back. It was hard to concentrate on anyone else on my team. I had two dodgeballs, one in each hand. People began to throw balls. I deflected them, swirling the dodgeballs in my hand to hit each one. I threw the one in my right hand and hit someone in the leg. Several people on both sides were knocked out. I switched the ball to my other hand. I deflected another shot into the air, threw my ball, and caught the ball that I deflected, getting another team mate in. The battle continued, several people getting hit. There was a ball in the middle of the floor on our side, however, the other team was lined up with several balls, waiting for us to go for it.

"I got this," I told my team. I ran at the ball. Someone threw one at my feet, but I jumped over it. Another person aimed at my chest. I slid under it and grabbed the ball. As I sat up, another person threw it at me. I leaned back down onto the ground and it passed within inches of my face. I quickly stood up. I threw my ball at the other side, hitting one person it the arm. People continued to dodge and throw dodgeballs at each other. Near the end, there were four on each team. Odd, Ulrich, and I were three of the four on our team. I picked up a ball of the ground and one-hand cartwheeled with my free hand. As I was upside down, I threw the ball. It bounced off of one person's arm and hit another in the chest. Odd slid across the ground under a ball with one in his hand. He sat up, still sliding, and threw the ball at the other side. The last person on the other team threw a ball Ulrich jumped over Odd to catch it. While he was in air, the other guy picked up an ball and threw it at Ulrich. I picked up a ball and threw it at the ball, knocking it in another direction. Ulrich landed on the ground with the ball. Our team had one.

"Come on, guys," Jim told his class. "You can do better than that!" We continued playing games until the class had ended an hour and a half later. We walked over to the wall where we had placed our bags.

"Off to the lab?" Odd asked.

"We have to get Yumi, but as soon as that happens, yeah," Jeremie said picking up his laptop bag.

We walked outside and sat down on a bench.

"Once this program is down, you will be able to virtualize us directly into sector five?" Odd asked.

"Not exactly," Jeremie said. "We still need to modify the virtualization program, which isn't going to be easy." Yumi walked up.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep," Jeremie said standing up. We walked through the park. There was a rustling behind us. We all looked back. Jeremie nodded at me. I sat on the ground and meditated, looking around for anything suspicious.

"Must have been a squirrel or something," I said standing up. We opened the lid and climbed down into the sewer. We rode our skateboards/scooters through the sewers. We climbed up the ladder and crossed the bridge. We slid down our ropes and climbed into the elevator. We rode down to the control room.

"You guys are going to have to do this on your own," I said as Crystal and I sat down plugging our computers into the supercomputer. "If you guys can get to the console and deactivate the program, then we can get there in a moments notice, in case there is a problem. And I can get there by teleportation."

"Just like the good ol' days," Ulrich said as they walked towards the elevator.

"Odd, Yumi," I said. "If either of you leave Aelita's side, I will go to Lyoko just to kick your butt." They both smiled.

"I promise, I'll keep your sister safe," Odd said rolling his eyes.

"You better, Odd!" both Jeremie and I said.

"We will keep Aelita safe," Yumi said. The door closed and they went down to the scanner room.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Ulrich and Yumi landed in the forest sector, followed by Odd and Aelita. The vehicles spawned. Aelita climbed on the OverWing with Yumi.

"The edge is west," Jeremie said.

"I've got it, Jeremie," Aelita said swiping her hand to open her console and opening a map. "Just work on getting the program ready to work on." They drove to the edge.

"Scipio," Jeremie said entering the code.

**[The Lab]**

The elevator door opened. Sissy, Herb, and Nicholas stood in the elevator.

"Whoa..." Nicolas said.

"So this is what you do all the time," Sissy said. "Wait until daddy finds out about this." Alex looked at Jeremie. He nodded. Alex teleported behind Sissy and pinched her Vagus nerve, stopping her heart. Nicholas and Herb turned around. Herb swung his fist at his head. Alex grabbed his fist and pulled it into his lower abdomen, flipping him over onto the ground. Then he reached down and hit him in the chest, the pain making him pass out. As all of this happened, Crystal sat down her laptop and ran over to Nicholas. She kicked him in the back of his head. He fell into the elevator wall. Alex grabbed everyone by the legs and pulled them out. He leaned them against the wall and sat down with his laptop.

**[Lyoko]**

Everyone landed in the Arena of Carthage.

"There aren't many monsters," Jeremie said. "It should be a walk in the park."

"We're on it, Jeremie," Ulrich said. They ran through the hall. Inside there were a few posts of Creepers. There were a total of ten Creepers in the room.

"Doesn't look like XANA is putting forth too big of an effort to stop us this time, huh?" Odd asked. Odd shot one of the Creepers off of the posts. Yumi threw a fan at one. Aelita threw an energy field at one. Ulrich supersprinted up a post. When he reached the top, he cut the head off of one and kicked it over the edge. He jumped to another post, stabbing another in the head. Odd shot a Creeper through the chin. Yumi moved around Aelita, blocking her with her fans. Aelita shot another energy field at them. Ulrich jumped onto an empty platform and into the air at the key. He touched the key and stabbed his sword into the wall as he fell, lessening the fall distance. The remaining Creepers retreated into the walls. The group ran for the elevator.

"Guys, we have a problem," Jeremie said into his mic. "Monsters are heading for the Core room. Forget about the program for now. There doesn't seem to be many monsters, but there are enough to get rid of the core." Everyone reached the area of the console where their vehicles were already waiting. They jumped on their vehicles and rode down to the bottom of the inner sphere. They stopped their vehicles on the inside. There were three Mantas and about eight Creepers. Odd shot one of the Mantas. Aelita shot one of the Creepers. Ulrich ran up one staircase and Yumi, Odd, and Aelita ran up another. Yumi kicked one off. Aelita charged an energy field and touched it to another monster. Odd shot another in the back and a Manta through the bottom of it. Ulrich supersprinted up the side, cutting the remaining Creepers in half. Odd shot the last Manta.

"All clear," Jeremie said. They climbed back down the stairs and mounted their vehicles. They rode up to the console. Aelita began working.

"I'm done," Aelita said.

"I'm bringing you back," Jeremie said.

**(Alex first person)**

Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Odd rode the elevator back up to the control room.

"There," Odd said. "I didn't leave your sister." I rolled my eyes.

"Why didn't XANA try to stop us more efficiently?" Ulrich asked.

"Maybe he's tired," Jeremie said. Sissy, Herb, and Nicholas started to stir, getting the others attention.

"You knocked them out?!" Yumi asked.

"And tied them up," I said with a grin on my face.

"We have to use the return to the past!" Yumi said.

"We will. But first let us finish this." Jeremie said. We're almost done. Have you injected the sector data, Alex?"

"Just finished," I said. "We're ready to go."

"Return to the past, now," Jeremie said.

We were back in the dorm.

"Well, that's it," I said. "Carthage is now accessable to be virtualized in."

"I still don't understand why XANA wouldn't send more monsters to attack the Core." Aelita said. "especially since we weren't all there."

"I don't know either," Odd said. "But what I do know is it's time for science again."

"Gym for science is the best thing we've ever had," Ulrich said.

"It's even better if you know everything about it," I said. Jeremie, Aelita, and I laughed.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**(Alex first person)**

I woke up to Jeremie's computer beeping.

"Yeah," Jeremie said into his cell phone. "I know it's one AM, Yumi, but we can't decide when XANA attacks... Just meet us at the lab." I sat up. Jeremie was looking through some disks on his desk. "Hey, can you go get the others?"

"Yeah," I said putting on my shoes. I teleported into Ulrich and Odd's room. "Hey, XANA attack." Odd sat up. Ulrich continued to sleep. I shook him.

"Wha- What?" he asked taking out his earplugs.

"XANA is attacking," I said. "Get to the dorm."

I teleported to Aelita and Crystal's room. "Wake up, XANA is attacking." They sat up. "Meet in the dorm." They got up. I teleported back to the room. Jeremie was still searching through the disks. He appeared to be very stressed.

"What are you looking for?" I asked. Jeremie looked at the door, checking to make sure the others weren't there.

"I'm looking for the Object Materialization Program," he said not taking his eyes off of the door.

"Why? What about emergencies?" I asked.

"Well, Aelita and I are... planning on going on a date..." he said still watching the door.

"Really?" I asked. "That's your emergency?"

"Yeah," he said. "My dad said he was going to send me some money, but it should have been here two weeks ago."

"Can Crystal and I go? Like, a double date?" I asked.

"Assuming I can find the program, yes," he said looking back at the disks.

"Well, this date must have messed with your memory," I said walking over to my closet and opening it. "Because we agreed to keep it locked up." Inside of my closet, there was a safe. I unlocked it and reached inside to grab the disk. I handed it to him. He smiled.

"Thank you," he said putting the program in his laptop bag. "Let's not tell the others about this." Odd, Ulrich, Aelita, and Crystal walked in.

"Ready to go?" Aelita asked.

"Yep," Jeremie said. We ran down the hall towards the entrance, checking no one was up. Odd grabbed the door handle.

"Wait!" I yelled pulling his hand back. "Look." Outside there were hundreds of insects crawling towards the entrance. "We're going to have to take the boiler room."

"The boiler room?! Were there are all kinds of bugs naturally?!" Odd yelled.

"Think about it, Odd," Ulrich said. "These bugs had to come from somewhere. We'd probably be safer there." We ran through the boiler room and into the sewers. We grabbed our transportation and rode. We climbed up the ladder. We could see a figure running towards us. It was Yumi, insects chasing her at her heels. We ran across the bridge, and slid down our ropes into the elevator, just as the bugs started to climb down the walls. Jeremie got out in the control room. The rest of us rode down to the scanner room.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Alex, Crystal, and Aelita dropped into the desert sector in the middle of Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. The vehicles spawned next to their drivers. Aelita got inside the OverCar and Crystal jumped on the back.

"The tower is northwest," Jeremie said. Everyone accelerated as fast as they could. There were a lot of monsters guarding the tower.

"Looks like XANA is ready to use full force, again," Odd said. Alex slowed down and let the others go ahead of him. Odd flew under a Krab, grabbing one leg, flipping it over. Ulrich charged it straight on. Yumi stayed close to Alex, guarding the passenger side door. Crystal turned around, still on top of the OverCar, and threw her throwing knives at a Blok. Just as it devirtualized, Alex drove through it. Ulrich slid sideways on his OverBike under a Tarantula. He put his sword up, slashing though the center of it. A Krab shot the OverWing out from under Yumi. She jumped off of it and over the enemy, throwing her fans down to hit it through the eye. Aelita shot out the door at a Tarantula, but missed. Crystal dove off of the back of the OverCar and onto the head of a Tarantula. She stabbed both knives into its head. A Krab shot at Aelita. Alex drifted the car around into reverse, and took the laser in the shoulder. He drifted back around into forward. Ulrich's OverBike was shot by a Blok. He jumped off of it and it slid into a Tarantula's leg, knocking it over. Ulrich jumped onto it and stabbed its head. Yumi backflipped away from lasers from a Blok. She stopped and did a one-handed handstand and threw her fan, slicing the Blok in two.

**[The Lab]**

Bugs started to crawl down from the ceiling, led by a few rows of cockroaches. Jeremie activated the program, picked up his laptop bag, and climbed down the ladder into the scanner room, making sure to close the access above him. Inside one of the scanners, there was a stack of fifty, twenty Euro bills. He stuffed the money into his laptop bag, making sure not to leave any or drop any, and took the elevator into the computer room to wait out the attack.

**[Lyoko]**

Ulrich supersprinted, cutting several monsters down the middle. Alex drove under Krabs as Aelita shot their underside. Odd shot at a Blok a total of four times until he hit it. Yumi used her telekinesis to knock over a tower of rock, crushing several Tarantulas, Bloks, and Krabs. Alex continued driving. The only thing left in his path was a row of Krabs. Alex shifted gears to the rubber tires, losing traction on the loose sand. As he was sideways, still drifting towards the row, Aelita charged an energy wave and threw it at the enemies, destroying the row. Alex shifted back into the metal plated tires and drifted around to face the tower. He pulled up beside it. Aelita stepped out and walked towards the tower. As she reached for the base of it, she was shot by a Blok. Alex immediately teleported in front of her and shot it. He helped her to her feet and pushed her in, just as he was shot in the knee by another Blok. He fell to the ground. As the Blok charged another shot, Alex teleported behind it and stabbed it through the back. Ulrich jumped onto a Krab, stabbing it though the head. Crystal slid under a Tarantula with her knives pointed out, cutting all of its legs off. She stood up on the other side and backflipped back to the over it. When she landed, she thrusted her right knife into its head. Aelita reached the top of the tower.

"Code... Lyoko..." she said as the tower was deactivated. Outside, Yumi had thrown her fans into a Krab, and Odd shot a Blok.

**[The Lab]**

Jeremie rode the elevator back up to the control room. All of the insects, having just lost XANA's influence, ran away. Jeremie picked up his headset.

"I don't see any reason to use a return to the past this time," Jeremie said to the others. "Devirtualizing."

**(Alex first person)**

We were all in the lab. Odd had squished the last of the lingering ants.

"I'm tired," Ulrich said. "I'm going back to bed."

"Me too," Odd said yawning.

"I better be getting home, too" Yumi said. They all took the elevator. Crystal, Aelita, Jeremie and I were in the lab alone. Jeremie opened his laptop bag and showed us. inside there were one thousand Euros.

"What's the emergency?" Crystal asked.

"We've been working too much," Jeremie said.

"We need to get away from the computer," I said.

"We're going on a date," Aelita said reaching for Jeremie's hand.

"A double date," I said taking Crystal's hand. She smiled.

"But don't you think one thousand Euros is a lot of money?" Crystal asked.

"Possibly," Jeremie said. "But it should be enough to last us for a while."

"Do the others know about this?" Crystal asked.

"Well, I was thinking about asking Ulrich and Yumi if they wanted to go, but seeing as how they don't like to talk about their relationship, I figured they would say no," I said. "So, no, no one else knows about this."

"So when are we going?" Crystal asked yet another question.

"As soon as possible," Jeremie said. "Tonight if possible." Both girls smiled. Jeremie closed his bag, and we walked them into the elevator and we took the elevator to the main floor. We walked each girl back to their dorm and walked back to ours.

That evening, about night time, we were in the dorm after classes. Jeremie, Crystal, Aelita and I were typing on our computers.

"What are you guys doing?" Ulrich asked.

"Trying to figure out why XANA sent less forces to the four of you, as opposed to the amount that he did with all of you," Jeremie said.

"Find anything yet?" Odd asked.

"No," Jeremie said. "There isn't any data dictating that."

"Maybe he just didn't want to overkill," Odd said.

"Maybe," Jeremie said. We all shut off our computers.

"I better be getting home," Yumi said as she stood.

"I better be getting to bed, too," Ulrich said. He stood and walked out with her. Just as the door closed, I could see Ulrich reach for Yumi's hand. Apparently no one else had seen this.

"I'm going back to the cafeteria for a second desert," Odd said.

"We better be getting back to bed, too," Aelita said after Odd walked out.

"What about our date?" Jeremie asked.

"We can go tomorrow," she said. "Gym tired me out." Crystal and Aelita stood and walked back to their dorm. Jeremie and I layed down in our beds.

"You ever wonder if you made a right decision whenever you knew that you did?" Jeremie asked me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I know I did the right thing to turn the supercomputer on to get Aelita out. But I don't know if it wouldn't have been better to shut it off. To protect the world from XANA."

"Listen, Jeremie. You saved Aelita. One day we will kill XANA and everything will go back to normal."

"Everything except being friends with a computer program." We laughed and went to sleep.


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**AN: I can't believe I have made it this far. Thanks to all of my Reviews, Follows, and Favorites. Without you, I would have most likely stopped around chapter 9. Keep reviewing. Sorry about the length of this chapter, but this is an entire day worth of events.**

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I were in the dorm.

"Where are we going?" Aelita asked. Tonight was the double date night.

"That's for us to know and you to find out," Jeremie said smiling.

"The only thing we can tell you is this," I said. I reached into my closet and handed Crystal a folder. She opened it.

"Four movie tickets and... dinner reservations?!" she said. "How did you get them? Where are they to?"

"As I said. That's for us to know and you to find out," Jeremie said, smiling again. Crystal handed back the folder, a playfully angry look on her face. I put the folder back in my closet.

"We've got to go to breakfast," I said. "The others are waiting on us." I opened the door and we walked out into the hall.

"Oh, there was something we forgot to do," Jeremie said. "Go on ahead. We will meet you there." The girls walked on towards the cafeteria, and Jeremie and I walked back into the dorm. "Do you have anything to wear?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked him back.

"On a date it is... customary... to wear something better than average clothes on a date."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Something that looks nice."

"Whenever I was materialized I didn't know what a date was. What do you think?"

"I never thought I would have a date."

"So what do you wanna do?"

"We've got to get something better to wear, but I don't know how."

"I've got a plan..."

We walked through the line and sat down with the others in the cafeteria.

"Where were you guys?" Odd asked.

"Umm... working on a program..." Jeremie said.

"Oh," Odd said.

"We've got Math today," Ulrich said. "What about you, Yumi?"

"French," she responded.

We ate our breakfast with barely any other conversation. We left the cafeteria and headed for math class. The halls were full of people. Jeremie was tripped and fell to the floor.

"Ahh! My ankle!" Jeremie yelled. The group stopped and turned to look at him.

"You guys go on ahead," I told them. "I'll take him to the infirmary." I helped Jeremie to his feet and put my arm under his and around his back. We carefully walked towards the infirmary. Once we were out of the groups vision, I let go of Jeremie and we ran towards the dorm. We carefully checked every corner as we ran through the halls. Jeremie unlocked the dorm and we walked in. Both of us put a bluetooth in our ears.

"The easiest way into town is through the gate," I said. "But during classes he is on guard. The next easiest way out is through the sewers. The grounds are on check, also, so we will have to take the boiler room. The halls are constantly under surveillance, so it is going to be difficult. I can teleport after you get there." I sat down on the bed and meditated. I looked around the hall.

"Go down the hall to the left." Jeremie nodded and walked out. He walked down the hall, waiting for instructions. He stopped at a corner. "No one's coming. Clear." He walked down the hall again. "Hold up, go back." He stepped behind a wall. Jim walked into the hall way Jeremie had hidden from and walked into his room. "Clear." Jeremie quietly ran down the hall. He opened the boiler room door. I picked up a bag and teleported into the room with him. We opened the door to the sewers and ran down. I grabbed my skateboard and he grabbed his scooter and we rode through the sewers. We came out on the bridge, but went towards town instead of to the factory.

We walked out of the store, our newly bought clothes folded in a bag. We took the sewers back to school. I teleported into the dorm and put the bag in my closet, then teleported back to the boiler room. They walked down the hall to math class.

"Nice of you to join us," the teacher said. "I heard you had a pretty bad fall. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just bruised my ankle," Jeremie said faking a limp.

"Well that's good." She turned back to the board as we took our seat. No sooner than we had taken our seat had the bell rang. "Oh... Well I'm sure one of your friends can fill you in. Class dismissed." We walked back to the dorm, Jeremie still faking his limp. Aelita held Jeremie's hand in a way to help hold him up, since she also hadn't know that Jeremie had faked the fall. She helped sit him down in his seat when we reached the dorm.

"I have Archery team practice after lunch," I said. "You guys are welcome to come if you'd like."

"Sure," Jeremie said. "We don't have anything to do until tonight."

"What are you guys doing tonight?" Ulrich asked. Jeremie realized he had messed up.

"Working on the program we have been writing," Aelita said.

"Cool. What will the program do?" Yumi asked.

"It's more of just a bug fix for the superscan," I said. "Nothing to serious."

"Oh, well I was gonna ask if I could tag along," Ulrich said. "But that seems boring so I think I'll pass."

Two hours passed. We had been talking the entire time. It was lunch time. We walked down to the cafeteria. We walked through the line together and sat down at our usual table. There wasn't much to talk about after two whole hours of conversation. When we were done, we walked to the gym. Inside there was a row of ten targets. There were also nine other people there. Some of them I knew. There was Mathew Maex, from math class. Darius Cartier, from science. And Peter Dax, also from science. Everyone else was at a higher class than I was. I sat down with them. My friends were close, but not close enough to have been mistaken as the same group of people. Jim walked in.

"Hello, Alex," he said. "Welcome to the archery team. I'm sure I don't have to explain how to hold a bow and arrow or how to shoot. Everyone here already knows about your shooting. Get to the line." Everyone stood up and picked a bow off the rack before taking a spot. I picked the last open one. It was at the end of the row. There were ten arrows. "Go." I picked up my arrow and shot directly at the very center of the target. It was a good shot. I picked up the next arrow and aimed again. I aimed for the edge of the eight and the nine, directly to the right of the center arrow. I did the same on the left side, keeping symmetry. I shot an arrow between the seven and the eight directly above the center arrow. I shot an arrow in the middle of the top arrow and the one on each side. Next I aimed between the three and four in a perfect line of the other three diagonal ones on each side. Then I shot and arrow between the farthest arrow and the one on each side of the middle one.

"Hold," Jim said after everyone had finished. Everyone held their bows in a standby position. I looked at everyone else's targets, arrows being kept in the center three rings. "Alex, you were all over the place!" he said looking at my target. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I hit exactly where I ment to hit."

"You ment to hit the four ring?" he asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Yes."

"Why?!"

"I drew an 'A' for Alex." He looked at the board again. His face no longer wondering what I did wrong, but instead how I did so good. Everyone else's expressions were the same, looking at my target.

"Umm... Very good then..." he said. We walked to the target and pulled out our arrows. We walked back, put our arrows in the quiver and picked up our bows. I shot the center of the fifth ring, straight up from the center. Then I shot the fourth ring, slightly up-diagonal from the first shot. I did the same on the other side. Then I shot on the same horizontal as the first shot, on the edge of the fourth and fifth ring. Then I shot on the same vertical as the two arrows farthest on top, on the edge of the sixth and seventh ring. Then I shot two in a diagonal alignment where the last four arrows crossed. It made a heart. I looked at Crystal. I picked up my last arrow and aimed at the wall, all without taking my eyes off of her. I let go of the string. It bounced off of the wall and flew sideways at the target. Its fletching was caught by the other arrows, stopping it. Everyone in the room clapped, including the other shooters who had put her bows down. It was a heart with an arrow through it.

"Very, very good!" Jim shouted. "How did you do that?!"

"I don't know. Skill, I guess."

The rest of the team meet went on with the class watching me draw stuff in my arrows.

"Okay, everybody. Have a good night. See you in two weeks," Jim said when the class was over. Everyone walked out and towards the dorms. We all walked in.

"We better get going to the lab," Jeremie said.

"Aren't you guys going to eat dinner first?" Odd asked. We all looked at each other.

"No, I'm not quite hungry," I said. "Are you guys?"

"No," Aelita, Crystal, and Jeremie all said together.

"Okay, well we are going to be going to the cafeteria," Ulrich said. "See you later." They all walked out of the dorm and down the hall.

"Okay, we have an hour to get ready to get ready and get to the theatre," Jeremie said. "Let's go." Crystal and Aelita ran down the hall to their dorm. I opened my closet and grabbed out the bag with our clothes.

We walked down the hall, wearing our new dress clothes and carrying a duffel bag. We knocked on their dorm door. Aelita opened the door. Both of them were practically wearing the same dress except Aelita's was pink and Crystal's was blue. They were both wearing tennis shoes since they knew we would be running through town. Jeremie and I were both staring, a smile on our face. Jeremie opened the duffel bag. Both girls put thir change of shoes in the bag. Jeremie zipped it back up. I sat down in the hall.

"The entire path is clear. We don't have long though. Let's go," I said. I stood up and we ran through the halls. I opened the door and held it open for everyone. We continued to run through the grounds. Once we were outside we slowed down. "The movie doesn't start for another fifteen minutes and it's a ten minute walk from here." I reached for Crystal's hand. Jeremie did the same with Aelita. We walked in silence, not from being nervous or anything like that, but we simply didn't know what to say. We arrived at the theatre. Each of us switched into our dress shoes. Jeremie walked up to the counter and ordered some drinks and popcorn. We walked into the line. I handed the tickets to the ticket taker. We walked in and saw some familiar hair. Ulrich was sitting next to Yumi near the front. We all smiled. We sat near the back.

Jeremie and Aelita, Crystal and I, and Ulrich and Yumi were all kissing as the lights turned on an hour and a half later after the movie. We stopped to stand up. Ulrich and Yumi turned around to see us, but quickly turned back around. The room cleared out except for all of us. I teleported next to them.

"Excuse me, sir, this movie is over." I said smiling. They looked up.

"Oh, hi, Alex. Nice shirt," Ulrich said with a completely innocent look on his face. "How long have you been here?"

"We got here a little bit after you," I said smiling again. Ulrich lossed his innocent look. "Don't worry, we won't tell anybody." The others walked down to us.

"Especially Odd," he said being entirely serious. "I don't want him rubbing this in my face."

I laughed. "Hey, we're going out to eat. I didn't know if you would want to come, but I went ahead and purchased a table for six. It'd be an awful waste of money for you not to come."

They smiled and held hands again. "That'd be great," Ulrich said. They stood up. We all walked to the restaurant and ate together.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

**AN: This is a redo of the episode where Jeremie creates a way to virtualize into Carthage. Just a heads up, it will not bug up as it did in the series, since there are two more programmers in the group. Review.**

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I were in the lab.

"Did you finish the implanting Carthage into the virtualization program?"

"Yes," I said.

"Aelita, call the others. I want to be able to test this as soon as possible."

"On it."

"Crystal, overwrite the virtualization program."

"Got it."

Jeremie's computer screen beeped. A digital representation of Carthage popped up on the screen. It zoomed out to show all of Lyoko. The screen slid over and a green exclaimation mark popped up.

"Lyoko accepted the program," Jeremie said turning around in his chair.

Everyone rode down the elevator.

"It's six in the morning. What is it, Jeremie?" Yumi asked rubbing her eyes.

"I've finished the program to virtualize directly into Carthage," Jeremie said with a proud look on his face.

"Ahem," I fake coughed.

"We! I ment to say we," he said trying to reassure us, unconvincingly. Aelita rolled her eyes, smiling at him.

"Are we going to stand around and talk about it?" Odd asked. "Or are we going to use this thing!"

"Head down to the scanner room," Jeremie said.

**(Third person omniscient)**

Alex, Aelita, and Crystal spawned in Carthage, between Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd.

"The program is fully functional, Jeremie," Aelita said.

"Good," Jeremie said.

"Are you going to bring us back now, Einstein?" Odd asked. The beep from the computer could be heard on Lyoko.

"No," Jeremie said. "There is an activated tower in the desert region. Your going to have to get out of Carthage and into the sector manually."

"We got it, Jeremie," Ulrich said pulling out his sword. Everyone ran toward the opening in the wall. They reached the main hall. The key was at the end of a bridge.

"I got this," Odd said. He ran forward. He ran halfway across the bridge before a large pillar came down and crushed him. It went back up to the ceiling.

"We don't have time to waste," Alex said. He teleported to the key and touched it. The wall opened up. Ulrich, Yumi, and Crystal ran ahead of the group. Alex grabbed Aelita's wrist and ran behind them. They jumped on the elevator that took them to the console bridge. The vehicles were waiting for them. Alex and Crystal jumped in the OverCar. Yumi and Aelita got onto the OverWing. Ulrich mounted his OverBike.

"No monsters so far, Jeremie," Ulrich said.

"Good. Opening the data stream," Jeremie said. One of the data streams disappeared and everyone drove through it and came out in the desert region. Ulrich landed on the ground, and Alex shifted gears. "The tower is east." Everyone turned to drive towards the tower. "There are a lot of monsters over there."

"We can handle it," Yumi said. The arrived at the area. It was a spiral ramp down to the tower. Around the hole, there was a ring of Krabs. In the hole, there were five Tarantulas. One of the Krabs shot into the Car and hit Alex in the chest.

"Heal," Crystal said reaching over to grab his hand, letting green sparks run down her arm and onto his. Ulrich rode under a Krab and put his sword into the air, slicing a Krab in half.

"More monsters are incoming," Jeremie said. Another row of Krabs came in from behind. Yumi turned around and prepared to throw a fan, but was shot in the chest. She fell of the OverWing. Another Krab shot her in the back. Aelita shot an energy field at one of the Krabs. Alex drove over to her. Crystal stepped out, pulling out her knives to deflect oncoming shots. She hit several back, devirtualizing two. Aelita stepped off of the OverWing and into the OverCar. Ulrich had finished opening a path into the ring. Crystal jumped onto the back of the OverCar, and Alex drove down the path. Crystal was shot in the side and fell off the back. Ulrich drove down behind them and grabbed Crystal's hand, pulling her up onto the OverBike. Alex drifted around the ramps, keeping Aelita on the outside, away from the lasers. He picked up his staff and shot into the middle, destroying one Tarantula. Another one shot him in the shoulder. Aelita shot an energy field down at the group, but missed. Ulrich drove off the side of the cliff. Crystal backflipped off of the OverBike and landed on a Tarantula, putting it on its back. She pulled out her right knife and stabbed its head. Another Tarantula shot Crystal in the back and another in the thigh. Ulrich drove around the tower and cut the head off of one of the Tarantulas. The remaining Krabs started to walk down to path, shooting into the group as they walked. One shot hit Ulrich directly in the face, knocking him from the OverBike and devirtualizing him. The OverBike continued forwards and hit a Tarantula in the chest. It continued on and crushed the Tarantula against the wall. Alex shot at the group of Krabs. A laser was shot from a Tarantula and came through Aelita's side and hit Alex directly in the back of the head.

**[The Lab]**

Alex took the elevator up to the control room, his face obviously blaming himself. Everyone looked at him. They all knew it wasn't his fault. They had all been devirtualized, too.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita moved over into the driver seat of the OverCar, but before she could accelerate, a Krab shot the back of the vehicle. A ring of Krabs surrounded her and behind them were the remaining Tarantulas. The Scyphozoa floated down into the hole. The ring of Krabs parted and allowed the Scyphozoa into the group. Aelita turned and tried to run through the bottom of the Krabs, but a Tarantula shot her in the shoulder. The Scyphozoa picked her up, implanting the device into her memory. It sat her down and the monster parted again. She ran into the tower.

**[The Lab]**

"Out of the way, Jeremie," Alex said running for the computer. Jeremie stood up and allowed Alex to have the seat. He started the devirtualization process.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita had entered the code: XANA. No sooner than the tower started to be deleted, Aelita was devirtualized back in the scanner room.

**(Alex first person)**

We all had gone back to the dorm.

"Did anyone find out what the attack was?" Odd asked, wondering what they had just lost the desert sector over.

"There wasn't one," Jeremie said. "It was a bluff to get us to the desert sector."

"We need someone else," I said. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.

"Do you hear yourself?" Odd asked. "We try as hard as we can to keep this a secret, and sometimes we still have to use a return to the past just to keep word from leaking out."

"We need someone with either no friends or the ability to keep a secret," I told him. I pulled out a piece of paper and ripped it into 7 pieces. I handed one to everybody. "Write down someone who you think would be a good warrior, and have the ability to keep Lyoko a secret. Also write your reason for picking them."

After a minute, everyone tossed their piece of paper into the center of the room. I picked them up.

"First is Sissy Delmas. 'She is obviously loyal to Ulrich and would likely follow his orders'," I read.

"We've already proven that she can't keep a secret," Jeremie said leaning back in his chair.

"Okay, next is Dakota Randy," This was mine. "'He is a very good shot on the archery team and has very little friends'."

"Yeah, but he is popular for his shooting," Odd said. "He may not have very many friends, but he does talk to a lot of people."

"Okay, next is Samantha Knight. 'She may be rebellious, but she doesn't talk to anyone and she is likely to follow commands'."

"Samantha might be good, but she doesn't even go to this school anymore," Ulrich said. "It would be near impossible to get her to the lab. Plus, I don't like the whole 'likely' to follow commands. Sounds like we are taking a chance."

"Next is 'We have enough people we just need more strategy'."

"I disagree," Yumi said. "We've tried as hard as we can, but we still can't keep the sectors from being destroyed."

"Next is Jim. 'He was very useful and a good fighter'."

"He was useful because he was fired and I told him I could get him his job back," Jeremie said. "There is no way we can just say 'Oh, hi, Jim. Let us tell you about something you used to do before we erased your memory.' He would obviously tell someone. That's all he's been trying to do for a while."

"Next is Justin Augustine. 'He is an athlete and a team player'."

"Justin has a lot of friends, though," Crystal said.

"Well, last is William Dunbar. 'He hardly ever talks to anybody, but more importantly he tries, more or less to be friendly and work as a team. He is also loyal to Yumi and, despite Ulrich's belief, is respecting of Ulrich'."

Ulrich smirked. "I don't think William would be a good group member."

"Ulrich, can I talk to you in the hall for a minute," I said standing and opening the door. Ulrich stood up and walked outside. I closed the door. "Listen, Ulrich. I understand what you feel for Yumi. But you have to understand that William is not going to be able to just waltz in between you and her."

"What would you do if it was Crystal?" he asked accusingly.

"Have I ever told you about how she makes me feel, Ulrich?"

"No, but I don't understand where you are going with this."

"Peace. You know that I can only use my long distance seeing while meditating. But when I'm with her, I don't have to be. I'm infinately calm."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I know nothing can come between us. And, honestly, if you don't want William to go after her, the best thing you can do is tell everyone. Or you and Yumi can talk to him privately. Or you can just hope he doesn't do anything. It's your choice, but either way I need another warrior to protect Aelita. And think about it. Would you rather have Sissy?"

Ulrich sat in silence for a bit. "Okay, we can tell him..."

"Good." I opened the door and we walked in.

"It has been brought to my attention that William is the best of our choices."

"Then we will tell him soon. But right now it's breakfast time," Jeremie said.

"Should we tell him then?" Aelita asked.

"I think it would be best to let him know at a better time," Jeremie responded. "We will go to his dorm tomorrow. We don't have classes tomorrow."


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

**(Alex first person)**

"So how are we going to do this?" Ulrich asked. We were all sitting in the dorm after breakfast.

"Alex is going to go get him and bring him here," Jeremie said. "We are going to tell him everything, answer any questions he has, and ask if he can keep it a secret. If he says no, Alex teleports to the lab and uses a return to the past. If he says yes, we take him to the lab and show him everything."

"Seems pretty straight forward," Crystal said. I stood up.

"Better get this done with," I said. I walked out the dorm and down the hall and arrived at William's dorm. I knocked three times.

"Come in," he said from the other side. I opened the door. William was sitting at his desk with his math book opened. "Oh, hi, Alex. What are you doing?"

"You've been chosen."

"What is this? Some kind of club or something?"

"Kind of. I'm supposed to take you back to the dorm."

"Well, I'm kinda busy."

"I don't think you understand. This isn't the kind of 'club' anyone gets to join. You've been voted."

"Why did you pick me?"

"I need someone to protect Aelita."

"You voted me to be Aelita's bodyguard?"

"Not quite. I'm not human. I'm a program. I was made on a supercomputer that Aelita's dad put her in to protect her. But Jeremie turned on the supercomputer and got her out. They got me out later. And now the virtual world we were trapped in is being deleted and I need someone to help stop it."

"Are you trying to make fun of me? Is this a prank?"

I teleported and sat down on his bed. "Can human beings do that?" He jerked back.

"O- Okay, I'll come." We stood and walked back to the dorm. We opened the door and William looked around at everybody.

"Can the rest of you teleport, too?" he asked. Everyone laughed.

"No, that's just Alex," Jeremie said.

"Can someone explain?"

"There is a supercomputer. Inside is a rogue computer program called XANA that attacks the real world through electromagnetic ports. These attacks can be anything from a burst of electricity to a nuclear bomb. Alex and Aelita were stuck in a virtual world called Lyoko on the supercomputer. We can't shut it down because XANA was released to the network. The supercomputer is our only way to combat it. We use scanners to travel to the virtual world and deactivate towers. That's where you come in. On the virtual world, you have virtual avatars, virtual weapons, and virtual abilities. We need you to protect Aelita. She is the only one who can deactivate the towers. We have protected the minds of millions by using a return to the past to erase the minds of people who haven't been scanned. There were five sectors of Lyoko, but now there are only two because XANA is taking over Aelita and destroying the sectors," Jeremie explained.

"And why do you need me again?"

"Aelita is not as heavily protected as we would like. We voted for you because of your teamwork skills and the fact that you don't talk to many people, seeing as we don't want it spread abroad."

"Okay, I'd be glad to join." He smiled broadly. "But I have another question."

"What is it?"

"How many times have we been through this cycle? If you can use a return to the past and make me forget all of this, then you could always keep trying until I said yes."

"This is the first time we've asked you to join. If you can keep it a secret then you are in."

"I think I can do it."

"We mean it. No one can know but us."

"I can keep it a secret." He smiled.

"Then come with us." Everyone stood up. Jeremie and I grabbed our laptop bags before we walked out the door. We walked through the park, William following us. I pulled off the manhole cover. We all climbed down with William at the rear.

"You can use my skateboard," I told William. "We can get you one eventually, and I can run and keep up." I handed him my skateboard.

"Thanks."

We ran or rode through the sewers until we reached the ladder. We all climbed up onto the bridge. We slid down the ropes and walked into the elevator. When he saw the supercomputer, the expression on his face didn't change.

"You don't look surprised," Jeremie said as he took his seat.

"I was surprised when you told me."

"Go on down to the scanner room," Jeremie said. We took the elevator down one level.

"This one is for you," I said guiding him into a scanner.

"What's going to happen?" William asked.

"Jeremie is going to scan you so that you will no longer have your memory erased," Ulrich said.

"Do you, William, solemnly swear to keep the secret of Lyoko? To never let anyone know of our activities?" Odd asked.

"I do."

"He's in, Jeremie," I said. The scanner doors closed. Wind was heard rushing from the inside. The doors opened again. William stepped out.

"How do you feel?" Yumi asked him.

"Ready to fight XANA," he said smiling.

"Okay, guys," I said pulling out six straws out of my laptop bag. "Pull straws. Short straw compares. Everyone except William pulled straws.

"What do you mean 'compares'?"

"We are going to decide who to compare your files to. To find out your abilities and weapons," I said. Odd pulled the short straw. "Get in the scanners." Everyone handed back the straws. Everyone but Odd and William rode the elevator back up to the control room.

"Running the analysis program," Jeremie said. A minute later Odd and William rode the elevator back up to the control room.

"What do I have?" William asked.

"Well, for a weapon, you have a kind of broad sword, or Zweihander. As abilities you have a 'supersmoke', in which you turn into a cloud of smoke. You are invincible during the time, but you can't attack while in supersmoke. You also have to be holding your sword to do it. That's pretty much it."

"Cool," he said. "What do you guys have?"

"You're going to see," I said pulling the straws out again. Everyone drew straws, save William. Yumi pulled the short straw.

"Everyone down to the scanner room," Jeremie said with a smile.

"What's going on?" William asked the group in the elevator.

"Practice," I said with a smile.

**(Third person omniscient)**

Alex, Aelita, and Crystal spawned first. Followed by Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi. Then William. He fell to the ground. He stood up. He was wearing a full white uniform with a black stripe down the middle and a red sash around his waist.

"Don't worry. You get used to it," Odd said.

"Where's my sword?" he asked.

"Try to _will it_ into your hand," Jeremie said. Smoke surrounded his hand and his sword was formed. His sword was white with a red handle. His Lyoko form was much different than his human form. He looked around.

"So, do I get to find out your abilities, now?"

"Kinda," Yumi said. She pulled out a fan and threw it at William. He barely blocked it.

"Battle until Jeremie says stop," Alex said sitting down in a meditating position. "No head attacks. And remember..." Alex was now addressing William with a smile. "Don't go easy."

Yumi ran at William, holding both her fans. William spread his arms out to the side. She took her chance and threw her fan. William supersmoked behind her and kicked her legs out from under her. She landed on her hands and flipped upright, grabbing her fans. She flipped again and threw another fan at William's legs, hitting one. He fell over. Yumi ran at him and jumped to try to throw her fans to hit him in the chest. William super smoked out from under where she would land. She fell on her hands, and William sliced his sword down on her back. Yumi rolled over and kicked his sword out of his hand. She flipped over on one hand and threw a fan through William's chest. She threw the other at the top of his arm.

"Stop. William is down to ten life points. That's barely hanging on. Yumi is at fifty." Jeremie said. Yumi caught her fans. Crystal walked over to both of them and put a hand on each shoulder.

"Heal," she said allowing the green sparks to run down her arm.

"I'll do better next time," William said. "I'm starting to get the hang of this."

"Who's next, Jeremie?" Alex said smiling again.

"I think... Odd. He pulled the first short straw."

"Seems fair to me," Odd said jumping down from a rock.

"Are you going to claw me to death?" William said, half mocking, half wondering what weapon Odd had.

"Not hardly," Odd said with a grin. He shot William in the foot. He pulled up his sword. Odd shot again, this time aiming for the chest. William blocked them all into the broad side of his sword. Willam ran at Odd, his sword pointed at him. When he reached him, he pulled his sword back and prepared to slice through Odd's chest. Odd turned around and backflipped over the sword. He landed on the ground and prepared to shoot William, but he supersmoked behind him. William stabbed him through the back. He pulled his sword out and prepared to cut him through both legs. Odd jumped and stepped on the blade as it passed under him. He turned around and shot William in the chest. He fell back, still holding his sword. He supersmoked behind Odd and cut him through both legs.

"Stop. Odd: ten lifepoints. William: fourty-five lifepoints." Everyone clapped for William.

"I'm a professional Lyoko warrior..." Odd muttered. Both of them walked walked over to Crystal, who healed them. Odd jumped back onto his rock, his arms crossed.

"Ulrich, you're next," Jeremie said. Ulrich stepped away from the tree he was leaned against. He drew his sword. Ulrich supersprinted at William. He didn't have time to react, and Ulrich drove his sword through his stomach. William kicked him back and swung his sword for Ulrich's chest, hitting it. He swung at Ulrich's shoulder next, but Ulrich parried it and swung for William. He hit him in the forearm. He swung again, but William supersmoked behind Ulrich. Ulrich supersprinted away and turned back to face him. They both ran at each other, both swords outstretched. Ulrich slid under William's sword and hit one ankle. As Ulrich stood up, William turned around and sliced through both of Ulrich's thighs.

"Stop. William: thirty. Ulrich: fifteen." Everyone clapped again, including Odd, who was no longer sad for being the only one to lose to William.

"I don't think Aelita should face William, since her energy fields are are immediate devirtualization," I said.

"Crystal, your next." Jeremie said. Crystal stood up from where she was sitting next to Alex and walked over to face William. She pulled out both knives and twisted them in her hands. William turned his sword in a figure-eight. William overhand swung at Crystal. She caught it in between both blades. She moved out of the way, allowing the blade to hit the ground, and stabbed his shoulder. He kicked her back and swung through her left thigh. She kicked the sword out of his hand. She kicked him in the nose, knocking him to the ground, and jumped on him, putting her knees on his arms. She crossed her knives under his chin.

"I do believe that's checkmate," she said with a grin. She stabbed her blade in the ground and put her hand on his shoulder and healed him. They both stood up. Crystal put her knives away. William leaned back against a tree.

"I don't believe I surrendered," he said smiling. She slid a throwing knife down into her hand and threw it at him. It stuck through his shoulder and pinned him to the tree. Upon the impact, he dropped his sword. She ran over to him and put her knife under his chin again.

"I don't believe you had the choice." She took the knife out and healed him again. Everyone clapped.

"All that's left is Alex," Jeremie said. Alex stood and walked over to William. He pulled up the staff from his leg and lengthened it by his thought.

"I can't fight a blind person!" William said putting lowering his blade.

"Sounds like your problem," Alex said. He swung he staff at William's legs, knocking him over. William stood up.

"I take that back." He swung his sword at Alex, but he hit it with his staff. Alex knocked the sword down, still in William's hand, and stabbed him in the chest with a bladed tip. He pulled his staff out of him. William hit his sword at Alex's ankle, knocking him to the ground. He twisted his sword and went to strike down. Alex teleported behind him and stabbed him in the left shoulder, then kicked him over. He stepped back. William stood up.

"I know you could finish me at any moment," he said. "Why don't you?"

"Because I find this fun and entertaining," Alex said with a grin. William charged him, his sword over his right shoulder. He swung at Alex's left shoulder. Alex leaned back, the sword inches from his face, and stabbed the blade into his thigh. He twisted the staff around and put it behind his head, resting on his shoulders with his arms around it, aiming at William's head with the laser tip.

"Stop. William: ten lifepoints. Alex: ninty-five lifepoints." Then Alex broke the two most important rules he set himself. He didn't stop when Jeremie told him to, and he shot William in the face.

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie had just finished devirtualizing everyone. I stepped out of the scanner.

"What's your problem?!" William yelled pushing me back into the scanner. Everyone looked at me the same way he was.

"You needed to know what the devirtualization process feels like," I said. "If you are going to complain this much over the devirtualization process, then there is now way you can handle the stress of trying to fight XANA while there is an attack such as a nuclear meltdown. If you want to quit, we are still within twenty-four hours of when we told you about it so we can use a return to the past and remove your memory and go back in time." he stepped back a bit.

"I don't guess it was that bad..." he said. We rode the elevator up to the control room.

"Jeremie, show him the clips," I said. William walked cautiously over to the monitor. Jeremie showed him clips of attacks that we were able to record through cameras in the lab or the security cameras at school. The last clip he showed him was from when I had my hand bitten off. "You have to understand that this is very stressful and dangerous. Now, are you in?"

"Yes."


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**AN: This is a redo of the episode 'Final Round'. Review.**

**(Alex first person)**

Ulrich, Odd, and I were in the gym. Odd was participating in a skateboarding competition.

"Thanks for coming with me, guys," Odd said.

"Well, somebody's got to pick you up and dust you off everytime you faceplant," Ulrich said.

"And carry you to the infirmary," I added.

"Yeah, Odd. What are friends for?" Ulrich said.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Jim said. "Kadic academy is very proud to welcome you all, today, to this grand skateboard championship. I'm sure all of you are going to knock us out, with your nollies, ollies, kick-flips, and smith-grinds."

"That's incredible," Ulrich said. "Your really up on your skateboarding, Jim,"

"Yep, I sure am. Actually, I was a roller derby champion way back in the '70's."

"What a shame that you'd rather not talk about it," Ulrich said.

"Actually, I'd be glad to, but I don't have the time," Jim responded. He blew his whistle. "Okay, into the pipe, all of you!"

Several people took to the ramps, each one falling off of their boards or wrecking into others. Odd went next. He slid down the ramp, being the only person not to fall off. He did several midair tricks. Ulrich stood and cheered. Odd slowed down in the middle of the half-pipe. Odd observed a familiar face.

"Hey, Odd, great run out there," Samantha said. Odd lost balence and fell back off of his board.

"Sam? How are you?" he asked.

"Not bad," she said. Ulrich made a comment under his breath.

He sat down next to her in the stands. They talked for a minute. Jim called her name. She walked up the stairs and put her board down on the edge of the ramp. Odd stared at her and blushed.

"How weird that I would run into her!" he said. "I almost forgot how cool and pretty she is."

"Yeah, and how you are totally in love with her," Ulrich said.

"Can't you like someone without being in love?" Odd asked.

"Sure, I can. But your in love." Ulrich said. Odd put his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. Samantha finished her run, doing as good, if not better, than Odd. She sat down and Odd walked up.

"Odd is so.. so.. so.." she started.

"Messy," Ulrich said. "You wouldn't believe how filthy his room is." This only seemed to strengthen the emotion she was trying to express.

"My room is a perminant disaster zone," she said.

"Not to mention his snore, his foot smell, and his weird hair," I said.

"What's wrong with his hair?" she asked.

"It seems you two were made for eachother, then," Ulrich added, possibly saving me from being yelled at. Ulrich's phone started to ring.

"Aelita? ...No problem. I'll tell Odd and Alex will get Crystal and we will all be there." he hung up. "XANA is attacking the core. I'll tell Odd, you go get Crystal. Aelita said she was doing homework in her dorm."

"Ulrich Stern," Mr. Delmas said. "Someone is here to see you."

"Dad? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm worried about your grades, son, that's the reason I came. I think you and I have to talk," his dad said.

"I'm sorry, but today- today's not a very good time." I slipped out of the gym. I ran down the halls towards Aelita and Crystal's dorm. I knocked.

"Come in." I opened the door. She smiled at me.

"XANA is attacking the core of Lyoko. We need to get there fast," I said. She stood up and we ran outside towards the manhole. William was there pulling up the lid.

"Hey, guys. My first mission. Great, huh?" he said.

"Yeah, but right now isn't the time to talk about it," Crystal said. He nodded. We climbed down the ladder, me last to pull the lid back. We reached the bottom. I gave William my skateboard again and we took off. We climbed up onto the bridge. We ran into the factory and into the elevator. We took it down to the control room.

"Where's Jeremie?" I asked.

"He is scheduled for an interview for the school paper. Let's go." she said. She activated a countdown and we got in the elevator.

"Now, to kill the monsters you have to hit the thing that looks like an eye on their heads. If the monsters destroy the core, Lyoko is over," I said.

"Got it," William said.

**(Third person Omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita and William landed in the Arena in Carthage. Aelita sat on the ground, swiped her hand in the air, and virtualized Crystal and Alex.

"So, where are the monsters?" William asked.

"We'll get there," Crystal said. Crystal pulled out both knives. Alex pulled out his staff and lengthened it. "Right now we have to stop the time and open the passage by hitting a key.

"Follow us," Alex said running through the open wall. William ran at the back of the line. We reached an open room. It was completely flat and boxy.

"There's the key," Aelita said pointing to the wall. William tried to run at it. A piller went straight up from the ground. William ran into it. Four sections of the ground opened up. Over fourty Creepers crawled up from the pits. They started shooting. Everyone started blocking the shots.

"These are called Creepers," Alex said.

"Wicked!" William yelled.

"Crystal, watch William's back. I'm going with Aelita to the key." Alex said. Alex and Aelita ran in the direction of the key, dodging the pillars as they rose. Crystal and William stood back to back.

"I'll cover your six. Go," Crystal said. William ran at the ones in front of him, blocking the shots until he was right on them. He started to spin his sword around, slashing them all in half. Crystal ran at a group. She deflected a shot back a Creeper. She kicked another one in the head, knocking it to its back. She flipped, dodging a laser that hit another Creeper, and landed on the knocked over Creeper. It opened its mouth to shoot a laser at her face, but she stabbed though its mouth and out its head. William ran over and cut another Creeper in half. He supersmoked and cut another Creeper in half from behind. Crystal jumped up and threw both throwing knives at two Creepers. Alex and Aelita started to reach the key. Alex shortened his staff. He teleported next to a platform that was going up, put his hands together, and threw Aelita into the air when she stepped on his hands. She landed on the platform and touched the key. I pulled out my staff again and started to shoot Creepers in the head. She jumped down.

"Hey," Jeremie said arriving at the supercomputer. "Where are Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi."

"Ulrich is having an awkward conversation with his father about his grades in Delmas's office and I don't know where the others are," Alex said. A wall started to close up, deviding the two groups. Crystal jumped over the wall as it went up. William jumped and tried to get over, but was still on the other side.

"Let him be," Aelita said. "He's enjoying himself over there." William continued fighting the Creepers. The other three ran towards the elevator. Everyone jumped on. The walked out onto the bridge. Jeremie virtualized the OverCar and the OverWing.

"Crystal, you take the OverWing," Alex said. Aelita climbed in through the driver side of the OverCar and into the passenger seat. Alex jumped in too.

"Careful," Jeremie said. "They're hatching." About eight Mantas spawned from the wall. They each drove towards the bottom of the sphere, chased by the Mantas, dodging their shots. One shot hit Crystal's shoulder, and another hit the OverWing. Crystal started to fall. Alex turned around and went after her. He stuck his hand out to grab her. Their fingers caught each other, but just as she had stopped falling, a Manta shot her head. Alex gripped the steering wheel harder and made a fist with his hand. He drove into the bottom of the sphere. Aelita and Alex stepped out of the OverCar. Aelita shot one of the Mantas that were shooting the sphere. Alex also shot several enemies. The walls became streaked with red.

"That's already the first shield!" Jeremie yelled. They both started shooting again.

"Hey, uh, Jeremie," William said. "There is a different type of monster, now. It, kinda looks like a giant jelly fish."

"William, get out of there!" Jeremie yelled.

"Why? I'm not afraid of a some squid!"

"I don't know what it wants with you, but it can't be good." William tried to strike at it, but the Scyphozoa knocked the sword from his hands. It picked him up.

"Alex, the Scyphozoa has William! Do something!" Jeremie yelled. Alex teleported and cut the tentacles connected to William. He uppercut it with his staff, then stabbed it. It floated off. Meanwhile, Aelita had been devirtualized. Lyoko shook again, the red streaks filled the wall. "Alex, you have to get to the core room!"

"Jeremie, it's too late," Alex said. "There are too many of them for me to hold off on my own, and I can't take William with me. If you leave us here, then we will both be lost in Virtual Limbo. Jeremie devirtualized them.

**(Alex first person)**

William and I stepped out of the scanner, just as the elevator opened with Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi. We took the elevator back up to the control room. The map of Lyoko closed and the computer dimmed for a moment.

"Ly- Lyoko is... gone..." Jeremie said. William fell back against the wall.

"This is all my fault," he said.

"Dang right, it is!" Ulrich yelled. I gave Ulrich an angry look.

"No it isn't, William," I said. "I couldn't have expected you to have saved all of Lyoko on your first mission."

"William, get in the scanner!" Jeremie ordered.

"Listen, I'm sorry," he said standing up as if he was being brutally punished or beaten.

"I need to know what the Scyphozoa did to you! Now get in the scanner!" William walked over to the elevator and rode down to the scanner room. Jeremie ran the scan. William came back up the elevator to see Jeremie, his glasses on the keyboard and rubbing his temples.

"What is it?" William asked.

"The Scyphozoa was in the process of overtaking you body. Fortunately, Alex stopped it. But it did do something. It stole a fragment for your data," Jeremie said.

"Like Aelita's memory?" Odd asked.

"Kinda, but it isn't that simple. The fragment he took is leeching William to the computer. This particular fragment is of himself." He turned to face William. "XANA is going to mess with your mind. He can't take over you, but he can cause damage to your mentallity. Nothing serious, like making you a vegitable, but he can mess with your brain waves causing terrible nightmares or even sleepless nights. These dreams can be dangerous. I'm sorry, William..."

"You warned me of the consequences when I joined... It isn't your fault..." he responded. I was pacing back and forth, rubbing my temples.

"It may not be your fault that we lost Lyoko, William, but you still didn't listen to Jeremie!" I said. "Here is how the chain of command goes around here: Jeremie, because he is the operator and is trying to keep all of us safe. Me, because my job is to protect Aelita and keep each of you safe. Aelita, because next to Jeremie and I, she knows the most about the supercomputer. Crystal, because she knows the next most on how to use the supercomputer. Then comes Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi, because they out rank you in seniority. Then comes you. Because you are new here and you don't know the things we know. You have to listen to us from now on. Eventually, you may even out rank Odd by skill, but you must still listen to him, until you find out everything we know you need to listen to us. Understand?"

"Yes..." William responded looking at the ground. Jeremie's computer started to beep. He turned around to look at it.

"Unbelievable..."

"Well, what is it, Einstein," Odd said.

"I just recieved a coded message... A message directly from the internet... And it's signed... Franz Hopper..."

"You mean... He escaped to the internet?" Yumi asked.

"Yes... And he's out there... Waiting for us... I'm not sure what the message is, yet. But we can be sure it is helpful. He wouldn't have coded the message just to say 'Hi, how's it going?'."

"We will get started on decoding it tonight," I said. We walked back to the school.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

**(Alex first person)**

It was three days after the destruction of Lyoko. After class, Jeremie, Aelita, Crytstal, and I were in the dorm each of us connected to Jeremie's computer.

"Have you activated the revised decoding program, Aelita?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes," she responded. Ulrich walked in.

"Hey, Ulrich. How's it going?" I asked.

"Pretty good. Are you guys still working on the decoding?"

"Yes," Jeremie responded.

"Where's Yumi and Odd?" I asked.

"Yumi is having family visiting and is eating lunch with them and Odd is begging for another portion."

"So what are you doing?" Aelita asked.

"I'm going to go tell William about Yumi and I," he said. The other three hadn't known about him wanting to tell William. They looked at him.

"Why?" Crystal asked. "What happened to not wanting anyone to know?"

"Well, more importantly, I don't want William flirting with Yumi. The only way I can think of is telling him that we are dating."

"Okay, if you want," Aelita said. He walked out the door.

"Are you going to eavesdrop?" Jeremie asked when we stopped hearing his footsteps. I put my laptop down.

"Am I that predictable?" I asked grinning. I crossed my legs, put my right hand fingers overlapping my left hand, and touched my thumbs together. I watched him walk down the hall. He knocked three times on William's dorm.

"Come in," William said from the other side. Ulrich walked in. William was sitting at his desk. "Hey, Ulrich."

"Hey," Ulrich said. "What's up?"

"I have to finish a paper for French class. What are you doing?"

"I have to tell you something. Yumi and I are dating."

"Okay. What's your point" Ulrich looked at him strangely.

"Well, I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't be flirting with her."

"Okay, I won't." He smiled.

"You aren't upset?"

"Well, of course I am. I love her. But love isn't about wanting to be with someone. It's about wanting what's best for someone, even if it doesn't include you. You've protected her for years, and you make her happy. I'm not trying to compete with you for her." He smiled again. "So can we put this competitive nature aside and just get along?"

Ulrich smiled back. "Sure."

"Well, I've got to get back to my paper."

"Okay, I'll let you get back to it." Ulrich stood up and walked to the door. He opened it.

"Keep her safe," William said, seriously but with a grin.

"You know I will," Ulrich said smiling back. He turned back to walk out the door. "Oh, and Odd doesn't know about it, so do you mind keeping it a secret?"

"Got it." Ulrich walked outside. I picked up my laptop again. Ulrich walked in.

"How'd he take it?" Crystal asked.

"Just fine. We're cool now," Ulrich said.

"Good," I said. "We don't need any conflicts in the group."

"So how's the decoding?" Ulrich asked.

"It's almost finished," Jeremie said. "Soon, we will know what Franz Hopper wanted us to know."

"Want's us to know," Crystal corrected hurriedly after seeing Aelita look up violently at Jeremie. A window popped up on Jeremie's screen, showing Franz Hopper's coded message. A light blue bar scanned over it vertically, then another horizontally. The characters moved across the document several times, some of them settling in a position on the document.

"It's having trouble," Jeremie said after about ten minutes. "It should have only taken a minute. Alex, give the program more power. Aelita, run the cryptosmasher. Crystal, connect the cryptosmasher to the revised decoder." The characters on the screen moved much faster, more of them settling into a position. After another minute, all of the characters were in a position on the document. "No... There's no way..." Everyone who knew how to understand it stared at the screen.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked.

"This section, right here," Jeremie said scrolling down through the majority of the document. "Is the data we would need to recreate Carthage. And this section right here is a directory to find the data we would need to create the other four sectors in Carthage."

"But I thought we already searched through all of Carthage for that directory while it was still up," Aelita said.

"This particular directory is in a hidden data section, like the one Alex lived in. We will be able to find it now that we know it's exact directory, but it's also password encrypted," Jeremie said.

"Call Yumi and Odd," I ordered Ulrich. "Her lunch should be over, as should Odd's. I'll go get William." I put my laptop in the bag, put it over my shoulder, and teleported into William's room. He jumped around, marking a long streak from one side of his paper to the other.

"Can't you just knock?!" he said breathing very quickly and grabbing his chest.

"Sorry, but right now we don't have time for courtesies. We finished the decoding."

"Lyoko?" William asked, jumping ahead in the conversation. I nodded.

"The data was on the rebuilding of Carthage. Using it we can get more data to create the rest of Lyoko." He pushed his notebook aside and stood up. We ran down the hall to the dorm. Odd arrived at the dorm the same time we did. We walked in. Jeremie pulled a disk out of the computer.

"Yumi is going to meet us at the lab," Ulrich said hanging up the phone. Jeremie put the disk in his laptop bag. We ran down the hall, making sure that no one was watching us. We opened the doors and ran out into the park. Ulrich pulled off the lid and we all climbed down. I gave William my skateboard again and we all rode or ran to the end of the sewers. We climbed up to the bridge. Yumi came onto the bridge riding her bike. She parked it next to the entrance and we slid down our ropes. We walked into the elevator.

"Will someone tell me what we're doing here, now?" Odd asked.

"The message was data that will allow us to reconstruct Carthage," Jeremie said.

"Good, then what are WE doing here?"

"The data will only let us recreate Carthage," I said. "We need to go to Lyoko and get the data for the rest of Lyoko."

"Oh." The elevator opened. We walked into the control room. Aelita, Crystal, and I plugged in our laptops. Jeremie put the disk in the computer and loaded the data. The data showed up on our laptops, too.

Two hours later, Odd's gameboy had died, Ulrich and Yumi were asleep in a corner, and William was watching Jeremie work on the supercomputer with fascination. The hologram came on, catching Odd's attention and jerking Ulrich and Yumi awake. A sphere appeared on the hologram.

"I couldn't make Carthage... exactly... like it was before," Jeremie said.

"What's changed?" Ulrich asked rubbing his eyes.

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news."

"I'll take the bad news first," Ulrich said.

"I couldn't make it without a tower. For some reason, it had conflicts with the superscan program."

"And the good news?"

"The timer doesn't start and Carthage won't move. I was able to make it to where Carthage only had one layout and didn't change."

"Cool!" Odd said.

"Although, XANA is still in the supercomputer, so there will still be monsters."

"I thought he left when he stole Aelita's memory," Yumi said.

"No, he just released himself. He's still in the supercomputer, but he is also spreading. Like a worm virus."

"What's a worm virus?" Odd asked putting stress on the word 'worm'.

"It's a virus that doesn't necessarily need to have any type of connection to spread."

"Don't worry, Jeremie," William said as we walked towards the elevator. "We can handle them."

**(Third person omniscient)**

William spawned last in the Arena of Carthage. Everyone looked at each other. They were no longer in their outfits, but were instead in costumes.

Alex's blindfold remained the same, but his black tanktop was now a wrist long Black shirt, ending with black fingerless gloves. His shoulderplate, also, stayed the same. There was a red, curved line going from his left shoulder to his right under arm, then to his left side, then back to his left shoulder. The same design happened at the bottom of his shirt, going from the bottom right corner, connecting to the one on his left side, and also connected to the point under his arm. His black pants had a red design at the bottom that looked a lot like the bottom of the towers, with a streaked and bubbly design stretching up to above his knees. His staff was also in the same place on his thigh.

Crystal's blue shirt was now tighter and was only loose near her wrists so that she could still slide out her throwing knives. The markings on her shirt had changed to become a gold spiderweb-like design. Her pants had swirled, tribal marks along the sides. Her left hand knife was no longer attached to her shoulder, but was in an 'X', overlapping her right hand knife behind her waist. She also had a wide tribal tattoo on her forehead.

Everyone stared at William, looking as though he had been a spawn of XANA, himself.

"Why have we changed?" Ulrich asked.

"I have a theory. When Lyoko was destroyed, your digital avatars were destroyed along with it. Since Lyoko has changed, you digital appearances were changed. The supercomputer reads your subconscious to find out what your subconscience wants to look like."

"Then why do I look so... dark?" William asked.

"It probably has to do with the fact that you are now connected to XANA and that is what your subconscious chooses to look like."

"I'm sorry, William," Aelita said, walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not that bad," he said trying not to seem like he was dreadfully sad. "It's just an avatar." Everyone smiled weakly at him.

"Let's go," Alex said. They all ran towards the open wall. The Core zone wasn't very large and only consisted of a bridge that led to the elevator.

"What happened to the never stopping elevator?" Odd asked.

"It will now only move when every avatar present in Carthage is on it, or if activated from the supercomputer or one of the portable consoles."

"The things you get used to," Odd said. Everyone stepped on and it immediately started moving. It moved to the bridge with the console on it. All four vehicles were there.

"Decide among yourself," Alex said pulling up his staff. Aelita walked up to the console. William jumped into the passenger side of the OverCar, beside Crystal. Everyone drove, Yumi and Crystal driving right and Ulrich and Odd driving left. Manta's flew out of the wall.

"These are called Mantas," Crystal said. She flew sideways. William put his sword out the side, holding on with both hands, and cut a Manta down the center. She turned back to flying normally. Yumi threw one fan at a Manta, hitting it in the center of the eye. Ulrich was being chased by two Mantas. He swung around to face them. He pulled out both swords and put them out to his side. The swords dug into their faces, but were stuck half way through. Ulrich was pulled back off of his OverBike. The Mantas devirtualized, dropping Ulrich. Odd turned around, shooting Mantas that were trying to devirtualized Ulrich. He flew under him, catching him on the back of his OverBoard. Alex saw the OverBike come towards him. He shortened his staff, ran at the edge of the bridge, and jumped onto the OverBike. He pulled it over to the bridge. Odd flew over the bridge and Ulrich jumped off. I quickly dismounted and let him on. He drove away. William jumped out the side of the OverCar, sword in his right hand, and supersmoked. He became normal again just long enough to land on a Manta and stab it in the head.

"I found the data, Jeremie," Aelita said.

"Good, I'm loading the password cracker," Jeremie said. He was typing so furiously that it could be heard from his mic. Alex turned around to see the screen. The password screen was quickly changing its input. One of the characters stopped, then the next, on to fill twenty spaces.

"It's finished. I'm sending you the data." A Manta came by and aimed at Aelita. Alex jumped in front of it, blocked the shots with his staff, then jumped onto it, stabbing it with his staff. He backflipped off of it and landed beside Aelita. The others drove back to the bridge. The data window closed and was replaced with an exclamation mark. Then Aelita, Crystal, and Alex turned into digital grids.

**(Alex first person)**

We all waited until everyone was out of the scanners before riding the elevator back to the control room.

"How's the data?" Odd asked as we walked over to see the monitor. The screen was flooding with letters, numbers, and symbols.

"It's pretty heavily encrypted, but we will be able to handle it. It will take some time, though."

"I'm heading back to my dorm," William said.

"We should probably all let you guys get to it," Yumi said pulling Odd and Ulrich's shoulders lightly. The rest of us pulled out our laptops and connected to the supercomputer again.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

**AN: Please review. I would like to know what you think about the story and what you think could make it better.**

**(Alex first person)**

It was four days after we had reconstructed Carthage. I woke up to a knock at the door. I looked over to see Jeremie lying in bed. He was sleeping because Aelita asked him to. He could have stayed up all night and worked on the decrypting if she hadn't asked. The door was knocked again. I stood up and answered the door. Aelita stood there in her pajamas.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Bad dream. Is Jeremie still here or did he go to the factory?" she asked.

"He's still here." I opened the door wider to let her in. I shook Jeremie.

"Keep... Aelita... safe... from XANA..." he muttered still asleep.

"Does he always talk about me in his sleep?" she asked.

"You don't know the half of it. I've considered asking Ulrich for a pair of his earplugs." I shook him again. He bolted up, looking around the room until his eyes focused on us.

"Aelita had a bad dream," I said.

"What was it about?" Jeremie asked.

"The usual," she answered. Jeremie moved his covers aside to let her in. She layed down next to him. I layed down in my bed. I found it extremely hard to sleep knowing that my 'sister' was lying in the bed next to me with my best friend. I put my right hand on my pillow and my left gripped my covers. I made sure the girls dormitory halls were empty with my long distance seeing, then teleported outside of Aelita and Crystal's dorm. I knocked three times, still holding my pillow and covers. Crystal answered the door.

"Aelita is in bed with Jeremie and I find it hard to sleep. Mind if I stay here?" She rubbed her eyes and opened the door wider. "I'll just sleep on the floor."

"Why?" she asked.

"I don't want to feel intrusive."

"Okay.. If you want." She went back and layed down in her bed. I layed down in the floor on my cover and put my head on my pillow. She looked at me. "Come on, we can share mine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, my room mate is sleeping in your room mates bed, so why can't his room mate sleep in her room mates bed?"

"Makes sense to me." I stood up off my makeshift bed and layed down in hers. I put my hands in my pockets, not exactly sure how to act in this situation. She reached around her back and pulled each hand out of my pocket and put it around her. She smiled and cozied up to me. I found sleep a lot easier that night.

I woke up. As we did every saturday, everyone met in the dorm before breakfast. Crystal and I stood up. She got dressed and we walked to the dorm. I opened the door and sat down on my bed with Crystal. Only Jeremie and Aelita were there. Crystal and I went ahead and connected our laptops, Aelita's already connected. Ulrich and Odd walked in.

"How's the decrypting?" Ulrich asked sitting on Jeremie's bed.

"Just about to start," Jeremie said. Odd sat down in the floor next to Jeremie's bed.

"Is Yumi on her way?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah. She said she was going to be here before breakfast so that she would have time to eat." Ulrich said. William walked in next.

"Am I allowed?" William asked before fully walking in.

"Of course," I said. "Why wouldn't you be?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe you guys might still be mad at me over the destruction of Lyoko."

"We are about to get it all back, for one. And for two, the destruction of Lyoko was each of our faults," I said. "We we're all, either, devirtualized or preoccupied." He smiled for a second. He went to sit in the floor. "Here. You can watch from my laptop." He smiled for another second and sat down next to me. Yumi walked in and sat down next to Ulrich.

"Are you ready, guys?" Jeremie asked.

"Ready," Aelita, Crystal, and I said simultaneously.

"Starting the decoding process. Alex, give the program full energy. Aelita, run the cryptosmasher. Crystal-"

"Connect the cryptosmasher to the decoder," Odd said having already heard Jeremie say this before. Jeremie turned around for a second to look at Odd angrily before turning back to the computer. A screen appeared on every computer of Jeremie's program. A document appeared. Blue bars scanned it vertically then horizontally. I opened the energy transfer screen and transferred all of the energy of the available to the program. Another window appeared on the screen titled 'Crytosmasher' of a cube with several encoded symbols on it that began to move itself like a rubix cube. Yet another window appeared on the screen of several green dots connected by white lines. Each line turned from white to green, from left to right. The characters on the screen flashed into dozens of positions, some stopping, others continuing to move around. The data eventually stopped in a position. Everyone's eyes marveled at the information.

"We're ready to get the other sectors back," Jeremie said. Aelita, Crystal, and I put our laptops in our bag. I held the door open as everyone walked out, Jeremie being last. He reached under his bed and pulled out a box and smiled at me. He held the box behind his back and we walked down the hall with the rest. We opened the sewer lid and filed down the hole. We reached the bottom. William picked up my skateboard, knowing I would give it to him. I took it from him and Jeremie handed him the box. He smiled, opened the box, and pulled out his new skateboard. We all rode through and climbed the ladder. We all slid down the ropes and walked into the elevator. Odd immediately sat down and played Tetris: Annihilator in a corner. Ulrich and Yumi sat down on the edge of the hologram. Aelita, Crystal, and I plugged in our laptops. We each put in our bluetooth. William watched us. We worked for two hours.

"I'm getting hungry," Odd said.

"It's breakfast," Jeremie said turning away from his computer. We rode the elevator back up to the factory then rode our transportation through the sewers. We walked into the cafeteria and sat down at our spot with our food. They were eating breakfast late and were the only ones there.

"How far are you with Lyoko?" William asked.

"We're done with the mountain sector. All we need to do for it is implant it. Next we have to do the desert sector, then the forest, then the ice sector," Jeremie said. Sissy walked up and spun a chair around to sit at the table.

"Hello, Ulrich dear," she said. "My father just purchased me two tickets to the Subdigitals concert and permission to take a date."

"Why don't you take Herb," he said half sarcastic, half just wanting her to leave.

"When are you going to admit you're crazy about me, Ulrich."

"Maybe in your dreams."

"I know the way you look at me when no one else is around."

"The same way I am now." He looked up at her, starting to get annoyed and aggravated.

"Why don't you just be nice and take be out on a date?!"

"Because I'm dating Yumi!" he yelled standing up and slamming one fist on the table, to aggravated to care that he had just let both Odd and Sissy know. Odd looked at him, shocked at first, but then with a small grin. Sissy stood up and stepped back as if she had just found out he had a fatal disease or something. She looked at Yumi with pure anger, then she stormed out. Odd opened his mouth to say something, but it never came out because Jeremie elbowed him in the ribs. Ulrich sat down and we all finished our breakfast in silence, other than William asking what the other sectors were like, since he had only ever been to the forest and Carthage. We finished our breakfast and went back to the lab.

"Implanting the mountain sector," Jeremie said. The hologram blinked for a second then there was another branch spreading off of Carthage. We started to program the next sector.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" William asked.

"No, but it wouldn't hurt anything for you guys to go to Lyoko if you wanted," Jeremie said.

"Awesome," William said as the four of them walked over to the elevator.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

William and Odd landed in the mountain sector between Ulrich and Yumi.

"So," William said. "What are we doing?"

"I don't know," Odd said sitting down on a rock. "But being bored on Lyoko is better than being bored in a lab watching other people do meaningful, but boring things."

"Could we at least have our vehicles?" Ulrich asked into the air. Each of the vehicles spawned.

"What for?" Yumi asked.

"In case XANA sends his monsters," Ulrich said.

"Speak of the devil," William said looking at a path. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd looked, too.

"Those are called Krabs and Bloks," Ulrich said jumping onto his OverBike. William sat in the driver seat of the OverCar and looked around at the controls. He had driven his fathers car before, but the controls on this were hard to understand. Instead of numbers where the gear shift selected the terrain, there were circles of different designs. The console had several switches and buttons on it. He stepped out.

"I'll just supersmoke," he said. They all charged the enemies. Odd shot one of the Bloks leading the line. Ulrich took both hands off of the handles and cut all four legs off of a Krab using both of his swords. The Krab fell onto its body and wobbled wildly, trying to shoot it's attackers. It didn't hit any of the Warriors, but it did hit two Bloks. William appeared above it and stabbed through its head. Yumi threw her fans, one knocking the front legs off of a Krab and the other going through its skull. Odd charged at a Blok, aiming at its eye. The blok charged a laser. Odd jumped off of his OverBoard and over the laser, shooting the Blok in the eye. He flipped midair and landed on his OverBoard again. Ulrich drifted around and charged back at the line, deflecting shots from a Blok with his left handed sword. William came up behind the Blok and stabbed it. The remainder of the monsters fled. The others drove over to William.

"What's going on, mission control?" Odd asked.

"Something is coming out of the digital sea," Jeremie said.

"What is it?" Ulrich asked putting his sword up.

"I'm not sure," Jeremie said. "It doesn't have a normal signature." Then they saw it. William floated up from the digital sea. Except he had green eyes. The real William prepared to attack. XANA ran at William, his sword held over his head ready to bring it down on William's head. William blocked the shot, making sure to make XANA's sword hit the eye on his own sword, as if taunting XANA. XANA kicked William in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. He lifted his sword, preparing to swing it down on William. Odd shot XANA's sword out of his hand. Ulrich drove past him, his sword out to his left, cutting XANA through the chest. He winced over in pain. William kicked him in the chin, knocking him into the air. Yumi threw her fan at his chest, devirtualizing him in the air.

"Can you get us out of here, Jeremie?" William asked.

**(Alex first person)**

William, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi came up the elevator. They immediately noticed the hologram had all five sectors.

"How did you get it done so fast?" Ulrich asked.

"After we did the first one, we had a templet to use," Aelita said. William sat down in a corner.

"What's wrong, William?" Jeremie asked.

"I had a dream about him. The dark copy of me. Except I had faced him alone and he had won," he responded.

"These dreams can get worse and, possibly, cause dramatic mental damage," Jeremie said.

"I know, but that's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried that XANA could win and it could all be my fault..."

"XANA isn't going to win," I said. "I won't let him."

"We won't let him," Crystal said holding my hand.

**Post AN: I have an idea for a new character, but I wanted to ask if people would agree to me adding another character to this story. Comment.**


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

**AN: Thanks for all of the reviews.  
To squirmyorchid: Thank you. I have been thinking of a character for quite a while and I have been planning to add him into this story or another. I will try to add some type of weakness to the group or a strength to XANA.  
To magmon1000: Thanks for the compliment, but I must remind you that season 3 was rushed because the show only had 13 episodes in the third season. I have been trying to add as much detail into this story as possible, especially to the battle scenes.  
To Lauren Chamberlain: Thanks for reviewing. All of these reviews give me a drive to create more chapters.  
Look in the Character description chapter for my new character's description.**

**(Alex first person)**

We were in the library before lunch. William and Yumi were doing homework, Jeremie was typing on his computer, And Aelita, Crystal and I were reading. Ulrich and Odd walked in. He sat down and smiled at me.

"You would think you would know everything about religion," he said noticing the cross on the cover of my book.

"I knew about it," I said. "Although the idea sounded ridiculous at first. Then I thought about it. Someone created my world, the only difference was that I knew who it was. I figure reading this is the closest I can get to knowing this world's creator."

"Do you think you will go to heaven?" William asked. "Since you are a program and all."

"I don't know. But whether or not I do is irrelevant. The creator of this world had to be amazing. There isn't any way this magnificent world could have been created without something wonderful involved. That's why I worship him. Not because I think it will get me anywhere, but because he deserves it," I said. They smiled at me. "I have archery practice after lunch today. Are you guys coming?"

"Yeah," Jeremie said. "We don't have anything to do, today."

"Cool," I said.

"Just as long as you don't spend the whole class drawing things in your arrows," Odd said smiling.

Two hours passed with tons of conversation. We walked down to the cafeteria, walked through the line, and sat down at the table. We ate our meal, still engaging in loads of conversation. After we were done, we walked down to the gym. The entire class was already there. Jim walked in.

"Hello, class," he said. "Go ahead and take your positions." We walked up to the rack and grabbed our bow. We walked to our spots, mine closest to the right wall. "Shoot." I picked up my arrows and shot each one at the very center. Jim was walking behind us. On my sixth shot, he tripped and fell to the ground, knocking over my quiver. Everyone in the class, including the observers, ran over to him.

"Jim!" I yelled. "Are you alright?" He put his hand on the ground to attempt to get up. As he sat up, his hand went for something else. His eyes flashed open and I could see the eye of XANA. He picked up an arrow and struck at me. A piercing yell was heard throughout the entire gym, but it wasn't my voice. I dodged out of the way and the arrow went through the stomach of Peter Dax. Everyone in the room yelled and ran out. I reached down and punched Jim in the nose. Peter fell to the ground, his hands covering the wound. Jeremie ran over to inspect him.

"He didn't hit any vital organs, but he will die from internal bleeding in about thirty minutes," he said.

"That's not enough time to deactivate the tower," Ulrich said.

"I'll carry him," I said effortlessly lifting him onto my shoulder. We ran down the hall and through the boiler room. Everyone jumped onto their transportation except for me. I ran ahead of the group. We reached the lab and slid down our ropes, except me who jumped down and landed flawlessly. We rode the elevator down.

"So this is where you guys are always running off to..." Peter said, his eyes almost shut. "I'm glad I found out before I died... I've been curious forever..."

"What do we do, Jeremie?" Odd asked. Jeremie didn't say anything. It was the first time anyone had been close to death since I had my hand bitten off.

"We take him down to the scanner room," I said. Jeremie continued to stare at the blood on his shirt. I picked Peter up and carried him into the elevator with the rest of the group. Jeremie walked over to the supercomputer. I put Peter in the scanner.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Peter, Ulrich, and Odd landed in the mountain sector, followed by Alex, Aelita and Crystal, then William and Yumi. Peter grabbed his stomach with his right hand, but stared at the object in his hand. It looked like a bow without a string and sharp limbs. Upon further inspection, he noticed a line in the middle of the handle. He grabbed it with both hands and twisted. It turned into two scimitars. He put them back together.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.

"Use you imagination," William said.

"Imagination, huh?" he said. He put his hand where the string would be if it were an actual bow and pulled back. Light started to form an arrow as he pulled back. He shot randomly into the air. "Cool!"

**Mid AN: The best way I can explain his bow is to give you a litteral picture. Google 'Pit's Bow'. It's where I got my idea for this bow. Remember, Peter doesn't look like pit, only his bow.**

"Now listen," I said. "We have to get Aelita to the red tower. Follow us. Kill anything that moves and isn't us. Hit them in the head. Got it?"

"I think so," he said twirling his bow around. The vehicles spawned. Crystal and I jumped in the OverCar. Peter jumped on the back. Yumi and Aelita jumped on the OverWing. Ulrich and Odd jumped on their vehicles. William supersmoked.

"Head east," Jeremie said. Everyone drove in the indicated direction. They reached the flat with the tower. There was one other path onto the flat. Krabs and Hornets swarmed in, filling the area. William appeared and stabbed up into one Krab. Ulrich drove up a rock, jumped off the OverBike, spinning in air to hit three Hornets before landing on he OverBike again. Yumi threw one fan, hitting a Hornet and a Krab. Odd flipped upside down and shot two Krabs before flipping back over. Peter turned around, facing the battlefield. He drew his bow and shot at them. The arrow hit through the skull of two Krabs. Alex pointed his staff out the side and shot a Hornet. Crystal stuck her Knife out the side, hitting the side legs out from under a Krab. Peter pulled his bow apart and stuck both blades up, slicing through the shell. William supersmoked into the air, turning back to normal long enough to spin around, cutting a group of hornets in half. Yumi turned the OverWing around, allowing Aelita to shoot a large energy field at the hoard, taking our several dozens of monsters. The monsters all shot at once, sending a wave of lasers at them. Each of the Overvehicles were devirtualized and everyone was hit at least once, with the exception of William, who wasn't hit because of his supersmoke.

"Get Aelita to the tower!" Alex yelled. Peter ran at Aelita and grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, Eileen!" he yelled with a smile.

"It's Aelita," she corrected, not understanding the reference.

"It's a joke," he said. He turned around deflected a laser before shooting a Hornet out of the air. He turned around and pushed her into the tower, being shot in the back as she entered. He fell to the ground. A Krab stood over him, pinning him to the ground with its claw. He pulled up his bow and aimed at the Krab. The Krab shot him in the forehead.

**[The Lab]**

Peter fell out of the scanner, holding his now bleeding stomach again. Jeremie rode the elevator down to the scanner room. He ran over to Peter.

"No..." he said. He pulled off his shirt and put it to the open gash in Peter's stomach.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita floated to the top as the battle raged outside. She placed her hand against the console. Her name flashed then the word 'CODE'. She typed in 'Lyoko'. Alex looked up at the tower as it changed colors. He dove behind a rock as Crystal deflected shots to protect him. He swiped his hand in the air.

"Return to the past, now!" Alex shouted after the return to the past was started.

**(Alex first person)**

We were sitting in the Library. Ulrich, Odd, and Peter walked in.

"Can you explain what just happened?" Peter asked when he sat down.

"XANA is a program hidden inside of the supercomputer," Jeremie said. "He activates towers on Lyoko, the virtual world you were sent to, so that he can activate electromagnetic ports and effect the real world. Alex and Aelita came from that virtual world. Aelita was put there by her father, but Alex is a computer program designed to protect her."

"Did XANA take over Jim?" he asked.

"Yes, but Jim is okay now. We deactivate the towers to remove his access to the port, then we use a return to the past to go back in time up to twenty four hours. Only Aelita can deactivate the towers. We are trying to find a way to destroy XANA. Any questions?"

"No."

"Then come with us," I said. "And remember, don't refer to anything that happened after this time. You only know about it because you have been scanned." We walked down the hall and out to the park. Ulrich pulled off the lid and we all climbed down. I handed him my skateboard and we rode or ran through the sewers. I climbed up the ladder and opened the access to the bridge. We all climbed up and onto the bridge. Everyone ran across the bridge and slid down the ropes. We got in the elevator and got out in the control room.

"This is very stressful and dangerous," Jeremie said. "You could have died." He showed him the videos of the near deaths we have all had. "We can remove your data from the computer and erase your memory using a return to the past if you want."

"No. I wanna do this."

"Go down to the scanner room with Ulrich. We are going to scan your digital memory." Peter and Ulrich walked down to the scanner room and stepped inside of a scanner. They walked back up.

"You have a camouflage ability that allows you to blend into the landscape, but you have to be standing perfectly still and you can only use it for a minute at a time, with a thirty second cooldown period. You also have a contain ability where you can stop a laser, although you need both hands free to use it," Jeremie said.

"Come on, junior," Ulrich said. "We're going to Lyoko."

"What for?" Peter asked when we were in the elevator.

"Practice," William said. We went to Lyoko and fought each other, not including the part where I devirtualize him, since he was already devirtualized.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, Peter, and I were in the dorm on a Sunday. The three of us with knowledge of computers were connected to Jeremie's computer. Peter sat on Jeremie's bed watching.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"We're trying to create a vehicle that can travel through the digital sea," Jeremie said. "But it's a lot harder than just creating something. The digital sea destroys things instantly upon touch. It is going to take a while before it is operational."

"We've got to go to the cafeteria," Crystal said noticing the time. "The others are waiting." We put our computers down and walked to the door.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Jeremie said reaching into his pocket. "Here is your new schedule. We noticed you only had one class with us and we may all need to get out of a class in a hurry so it's probably better that you have the same classes as us."

"How did you do that?" he asked taking the piece of paper.

"We had to hack into the school's schedule database and put you into our classes," he responded. "It wasn't that hard. 1234567890 isn't a secure password and only took half a second to crack."

"Thanks," he said as we walked down the hall towards the cafeteria. We sat down at the table after we walked through the line. Mike Anderson walked up to us at the table.

"Ditching us to hang out with these weirdos?" he asked. "Fine. I see how you are!" He stormed off.

"You can go with them if you want," Yumi said.

"No, you guys are my friends, now," he said. "Mike was never a good friend, anyways. Always breaking into my dorm and taking stuff without permission." Mr. Delmas walked up to the table.

"Mr. Dax. Your parents have just informed me that they would like for you to have a dorm mate," he said. Peter looked at Jeremie and me. Jeremie smiled. "They have suggested Mr. Dunbar as you room mate, since you two have been friends since birth. Here is your room key. Jim is already moving your possessions to Mr. Dunbar's room and a bed is already in place." He walked away.

"I'm assuming you guys had something to do with that, too," he said.

"Guilty," Jeremie said. "It's better that you have someone with you in case of an attack. It is also easier to get to you in case we need to get to both of you."

"I don't mind a room mate," he said. "I was denied when I asked to become Mike's room mate because 'Mike enjoys his space'. When Mr. Delmas asked Mike, he said no because he didn't like me."

"I wanted a room mate, too," William said. "I just couldn't find anyone. I wanted someone to talk to. Being without someone to talk to can get boring." Sissy walked up next.

"Adding another member to your group, eh?" she said. "What's wrong with me? Too good for you?" Peter immediately understood she got on our nerves based on the annoyed looks on each of our faces.

"I think it's just that we don't have enough room for your ego at this table," Peter said. Everyone at the group smiled, except Odd who almost choked on his food. She was taken off guard and didn't know what to say.

"Uh..." She stood there with her mouth wide open. When she couldn't think of a comeback she walked off, followed by Herb and Nicholas. We finished our meal, the smile still on our faces, and walked back to the dorm. Jeremie took his seat. Aelita, Crystal, and I connected our computers.

"How close are you to finishing?" William asked.

"We've hardly made any progress. Maybe two percent," Jeremie said. "We're still working on writing the code. This is going to take a while." Odd fell back on Jeremie's bed.

"You've been working on it for weeks," he said.

"Yeah, but once we are done with the code, all we will have to do is design the frame and components, and that will be simpler than the code."

"I wonder what the network looks like," Ulrich said.

"We will know soon enough, but right now I need more information about the digital sea," Jeremie said.

"Carthage?" Odd said sitting back up.

"Carthage."

"What's Carthage?" Peter asked.

"The center of all data of the supercomputer and Lyoko," I explained. "It's a sector on Lyoko."

"We're going back?" he asked getting excited.

"Yes. Right now," Jeremie said. Everyone put their laptops up and we stood and walked out the door, down the hall, and into the woods. I pulled off the manhole lid and we climbed down. I handed Peter my skateboard and we went as fast as we could, me slowing down to stay with the group, to the ladder to the bridge. We climbed up and ran to the factory. We got out of the elevator in the control room.

"Just what we need," Jeremie said as he sat down. His computer was beeping.

"We're going to need to split into two groups," I said. "Group one: Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita. Group two: me, Crystal, Peter, and William."

"Why don't we just go deactivate the tower and then go get the data?"

"Because if Alex get's the data, then I will be able to work on it sooner," Jeremie said. "And they can get there afterwards."

"You really want that finished, huh?" Ulrich asked.

"Don't worry. We got it," William said as we walked towards the elevator. We took it down to the scanner room. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi got in the scanners.

"Don't leave her, Odd," I said.

"I won't," he said. We both nodded once as the scanners closed.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi landed in the ice sector. Each of them pulled out their weapon, or in Odd's case, aimed around. Aelita dropped in the middle of them. Their vehicles spawned. Aelita jumped on the OverBoard with Odd.

"The tower is east," Jeremie said. Everyone drove towards the tower.

Alex, Crystal, and William dropped into Carthage, followed by Peter. Everyone ran for the open wall. They ran across the bridge and jumped on the elevator. The wall opened up to the bridge and everyone ran towards it.

"Peter, hold my back. William, go with Crystal," Alex said. William and Crystal jumped in the OverCar.

"They're hatching," Jeremie said.

"What are hatching?" Peter asked. His question was immediately answered by a dozen Mantas flying by. Peter shot an arrow at one. Crystal drove after the others. She flipped the homing switch and jumped out her side. She landed on one of the Mantas and stabbed it. The OverCar turned around to fly back at them. William put his sword out the door to cut down three Mantas. Crystal jumped off of her Manta and landed in the OverCar.

Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita arrived at the area of the tower. There was a spiral up the side of a piller of ice. A row of Krabs lined the edge of the ring. Odd shot at them as they drove up. Aelita shot energy fields at them. The Krabs started to fire down on them. Odd drifted sideways to where he was facing the Krabs, still driving up the ramp.

"Shield," he said. A purple hex-block shield covered his arm. He blocked all of the bullets from hitting Aelita, then drifted back and drove up the spiral. They reached the top of the piller. Surrounding the tower were three Tarantuals. Yumi threw her fan at a Krab. Another Krab shot at Yumi, devirtualizing her OverWing. She landed on her hand, spun around, and threw a fan at the Krab that shot at her. Ulrich pulled out both of his swords, stood on his OverBike, and flipped over a Krab, cutting it through the eye. Odd slalomed, dodging lasers. He shot a Tarantula in the face three times.

Peter shot the lead Manta as they flew back around. He ran at the edge and jumped, pulling his bow apart. He landed on another Manta, stabbing it, then jumping off. He started to fall short of the ledge. Alex lengthened his staff and stuck it out. Peter grabbed on to his staff and pulled himself up. Alex shortened his staff again and absent-mindedly shot a Manta before putting his staff away. Crystal drifted around into reverse and threw both throwing knives at the Mantas. William jumped out the side and supersmoked after them. He appeared long enough to cut one before supersmoking again to hit another. He supersmoked back into the car after he had destroyed all of the ones chasing them.

**[The Lab]**

"Guys! Hello? Are you there?" Jeremie yelled into the headset. "Be careful! XANA has bugged the scanners! Can you hear me?!"

**[Lyoko]**

Odd was using his shield to protect Aelita. Ulrich came up behind a Tarantula and cut its head off. Yumi backflipped and threw her fans at the last Tarantula. Aelita stepped off the OverBoard and ran towards the tower. She walked inside, but was kicked back out. Dark William walked out of the tower. Odd ran over to Aelita, shooting laser arrows at the enemy. Dark William blocked them all. He reared his sword back and swung it towards Odd, sending a large wave of energy at him. It hit Odd, sending him off of his feet and turning into digital grid. Ulrich ran at him, swinging both swords at him. He caught Dark William's sword in between his two.

"Run, Aelita!" Ulrich yelled. She ran for the tower. Dark William kicked Ulrich in the stomach, knocking him to the ground, and swung his sword at Aelita. She dove into the tower, causing Dark William's sword to dig into the wall of the tower. Yumi tackled the enemy, his sword dropping from his hands, and pushed him off the piller and into the digital sea. The tower changed from red to blue.

"Jeremie, I'm sending the data," Alex said.

"I can hear you know!" Jeremie exclaimed. "Odd was devirtualized by Dark William but didn't rematerialize. I need his information so I can rematerialize him."

"On it," Alex said. Within a minute, Alex had sent Odd's information to the supercomputer. Jeremie devirtualized everyone.

**[Alex first person]**

The majority of us, minus Jeremie, were standing around the scanner. The scanner doors closed. They reopened with Odd inside. Odd looked up at everybody from the ground.

"Digital Limbo is pretty hardcore," he said. We all laughed and helped him to his feet. We rode the elevator back up.

"Is the ship ready, now?" Ulrich asked.

"Not quite," Jeremie said. "It'll take a couple of months before the coding is even completed."

"Let's go back to the dorm," I said. We walked back to the dorm, Odd talking about what digital Limbo was like.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I were in the lab in the afternoon after class working on the ship.

"Have you finished overwriting the digital void structure, Aelita?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes."

"Alex, have you upgraded the shield to maximum energy?"

"Just finished."

"Crystal, have you removed the network restrictors?"

"Yes."

"Running the test program." A question mark appeared on the screen, showing that there was not yet any data to show the physical appearance of the ship. The question mark turned blue. A green bubble surrounded it. The supercomputer started to pulse a beat. The beat sped up and the bubble around the question mark disappeared. The question mark exploded.

"Well, that isn't right," Aelita said.

"I don't understand," Jeremie said. "Everything should be running normally."

"Maybe a walk to the Hermitage will jog our knowledge," Crystal suggested stretching her arms.

"Maybe Franz had something there that would help," I said.

"Maybe..." Jeremie said. We stood up and walked to the elevator. "I just don't know what's going wrong." We walked to the Hermitage. I opened the door and allowed the others to walk in. We walked into the living room. Books were scattered across the floor. We all looked around through stuff, making sure to put it back in it's original spot when we were done. Aelita picked up a book of the shelf. She flipped it open.

"My dad used to read this to me all the time..." she said.

"What is it?" Crystal asked still looking through papers on a table.

"The story of the Skidbladnir. It's a story of a boat that always made it to its destination."

"Wanna name the ship after it?" I asked picking up a couch to look under it.

"Yeah," Jeremie said looking through a book of pictures. "In memory of your past life."

"Okay," Aelita said putting the book back on the shelf. I picked up a folder. Inside were dozens of papers of notes.

"I think I found something..." I said.

"What?" Jeremie said, looking through things on the piano.

"Some notes."

"Franz?"

"I think so. Some of these are on the digital sea."

"Franz's journal didn't say anything on his work on the digital sea." He walked over to me.

"Right here there is a program for negating the digital sea's effects."

"It looks like it's made up of several sub programs. We should be able to program it in a couple of days. Maybe a week." Aelita and Crystal walked over and started to read through the program.

"That kinda looks like the program that is in my folder," Crystal said.

"The only difference here is that it doesn't devirtualize," Aelita said. "It completely ignores the digital sea."

"Will we be able to use the program on each of us?" Crystal asked.

"No," Jeremie said. "This program can't be injected into the folders of the avatars."

"But even when we are done with the programming, it will still take another week or two to make the body frame," I said.

"We should probably be getting back," Crystal said looking at her watch. "The others are expecting us." We walked back to school and entered our dorm. Everyone was there.

"How's the program going?" Yumi asked.

"We couldn't get anything done, so we walked to the Hermitage and found some notes," Crystal said.

"What were they?" William asked.

"Various things. The virtualization, the towers, but most importantly, the digital sea," Jeremie said.

"Is it useful?" Peter asked.

"Some of it was stuff we already knew," I said. "But most of it is completely new knowledge."

"We should be able to finish the Skidbladnir in about a month," Aelita said.

"The Sidvladbeer?" Odd said. "Is that a drunken vampire named Sid?"

"Skidbladnir," Peter corrected. "It's a norse ship in mythology."

"Oh.. Can we call it the Skid for short?"

"Yes, Odd," I said.

"It's almost dinner," Jeremie said. We stood and walked down to the cafeteria. We walked through the line and sat down at our table.

"Have you decided what the Skid will look like?" Ulrich asked.

"Not yet. But the power for the program is limited and there is no way we can fit everyone in it. But it's not that big of a deal because we can use it as a hub for virtualization," Jeremie said. Jim walked into the cafeteria.

"Hello, everyone," he announced. "As I'm sure most of you know, Christmas is coming up. I must remind you that any students leaving for the holiday must turn in their student exemption form by Friday. Have a nice day."

"What are you doing for Christmas, Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"Staying at home. What about you?" he asked.

"We're going to Japan for the week. What are you doing, Odd?"

"Probably getting picked on by my sisters. What about you, William?"

"My dad is taking us on a camping trip. What are you doing, Peter?"

"My mom and dad are going to take me and my sister to Italy for a vacation. What about you, Jeremie?"

"I'm probably going to stay here and keep Lyoko in check."

"Come on, Jeremie," Aelita interupted. "Can't you leave that computer for a week?"

"What if XANA attacks?"

"He's been pretty quiet lately. You should go home to your family."

"Okay," he admitted defeat. He wasn't going to argue with Aelita. He knew either she would win or he would feel bad afterwards. "What are you doing, Alex?" He asked without thinking. He knew I didn't have a family to go home to. "I'm sorry. My parents would be glad to accept friends over. I'm an only child. They wouldn't mind if you came."

"Thanks," I said. "But only if Aelita can come. I need to keep her in sight."

"They have already offered to house all four of us during the summer," he said pointing to Aelita, Crystal, me, and himself.

"Do you think they would mind if I came, too?" Crystal asked. "My mom and dad are leaving the country to go visit my grandma. They said I could come if I wanted, but I don't like air travel."

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind. But it's a pretty long drive. I think it's an hour or two."

"I don't mind. Air travel makes me sick."

"Well, I'll call them tonight." We finished eating talking about various things. William's camping trip, Peter's trip to Italy, Yumi's trip to Japan, Odd's sisters (at which he asked for us to make him some money to bribe them with, at which we denied), and Jeremie's house. We walked back to the dorm. We worked on the Skidbladnir for the next two hours, typing up some of the journal's subprograms.

"I should probably be getting back," Yumi asked. "See you tomorrow." She walked out the door.

"I'll go with you," Ulrich said since everyone knew they were dating now. They walked outside and closed the door.

"I'm heading for the dorm," Odd said. He walked out.

"I'm getting tired, too," William said.

"I'll go, too," Peter said. The only people left in the room were Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and me. Jeremie pulled out his phone.

"Hey, dad... Yeah, I was planning on coming home for Christmas... I was also planning on bringing some friends... Crystal Descoteaux, Aelita Stones, an... Yes the girl with the pink hair... Yes... Yes... And her brother Alex Stones... Thanks dad... Bye." He hung up his phone. "He said I could bring you all."

"I'll go get the forms," I said.

I came back and handed everyone their forms. Aelita and Crystal walked back to their dorm. Jeremie and I layed down in our beds.

"What are your parents like, Jeremie?"

"Well, mom is a business professional and my dad is a computer software designer, so we have a lot of money. They're both really nice people. I think they will like you."

"I've never had a parent figure. I mean, Franz was more of a nice boss kind of relationship."

"What was Franz like?"

"He was nice. Always asking me to do things on Lyoko for him or tell him a story or something."

"You will like my parents."


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

**AN: In order for you to understand this chapter, I highly recommend that you read 'The Journal of John'. This chapter will refer to it. This never happened in the series and is my add on. Please review.**

**(Alex first person)**

It was Sunday. The day everyone went home for Christmas vacation. It would last a week. The majority of the group had already left. Yumi, Ulrich, and Peter were still at the school with us. We were all sitting outside talking. We had our bags packed with several changes of clothes, the journal from the Hermitage, and our laptops. Jeremie's dad pulled up in a four-door car. Jeremie smiled at him. We said goodbye to our friends, picked up our bags, and walked to the car. Jeremie's dad got out and opened the trunk so we could put our bags in. We walked around and sat inside, Jeremie in the front seat.

"This is Aelita, I assume?" Jeremie's father said when we left the school.

"Hello," she said smiling.

"Next to her is her brother and next to him is his girlfriend," Jeremie said.

"And behind you is your girlfriend," he said with a grin. Aelita and Jeremie blushed, but they were used to being called such. Just not by Jeremie's dad. "So what do your parents do, Aelita?"

"Our dad is away a lot," she said.

"This is the first vacation we've spent away from school," I said.

"You don't have to lie to me," Jeremie's dad said. Aelita and I looked at each other. "There is only one person I've ever seen with natural pink hair. And she went missing over twenty years ago. But she did have a daughter. She disappeared ten years ago, along with her father. I never thought you four would be the cause of the return to the pasts..." Our faces became stressed.

"Charley?" I asked.

"That's me."

"What's going on?!" Jeremie yelled. "Your name isn't Charley! It's Michael!"

"Calm down, son," his father said. "It used to be Charley before the supercomputer. Franz was my best friend."

"You knew Franz?" Aelita asked.

"Yes."

"And John?" I asked.

"He went missing several years ago."

"What is going on?" Jeremie asked again.

"The Alex Project was made to protect us on Lyoko by Melvin Johnson, or John. He was our friend. After the government found out what we were doing, Franz wanted to take the four of us to Lyoko. Me, John, Aelita, and himself. John was captured. I went, but I couldn't stand being on Lyoko for too long. I came back to the real world, changed my name, and lived normally. Afterwards, Franz assigned Alex the task of protecting Aelita."

"You were the original Lyoko warrior?" Crystal asked.

"You could help us!" Aelita said.

"Sorry, kids. I don't know how to use the supercomputer, and furthermore, I'm not going back to Lyoko," he said. "I'd be glad to supply you with shelter during the breaks and what not, but I simply can't help with Lyoko."

"Well, Jeremie says you are a software designer," I said. "We are currently working on a set of subprograms. Could you help us program them?"

"What are they for?"

"A ship to travel the digital sea," Aelita said.

"I might be able to help."

"Thank you, Charley," I said.

"It's nothing. Just don't tell my wife. She doesn't know about Lyoko and I'd prefer to keep it that way."

"Yes sir," Aelita said.

"What's XANA's current status?"

"He escaped the supercomputer when we went to Carthage to get Aelita's memory fragment," Jeremie said.

"I was worried about that. I assume you already know that shutting the supercomputer down won't stop him now?"

"Yes sir." He let out a sigh.

"Have you started working on an antivirus?"

"Not yet," I said. "We need more information first."

"No since in arguing with a computer program about computer programs."

"We have, however finished a program to find other computers infected with XANA," Crystal said.

"Good... I will help you program things, but I also have a job. And a life. I can't program everything all the time. I will assist you when I can."

"Thank you, Charley. We are truly grateful," I said. "Franz would be, too."

"I know." We rode the next two hours talking about several things about the supercomputer, our lives at Kadic, our Lyoko missions, and other things. We arrived at Jeremie's home. It was a large two story house. We grabbed our bags and walked through the front door. Jeremie's mother greeted us at the door.

"Hello, Aelita! You must be the girl Jeremie always talks about!" she said shaking her hand. "And you are a few of Jeremie's friends! I was kinda hoping to meet your entire group, but having Jeremie's friends over is a treat!" She was a very excitable woman, constantly smiling. It was obvious that she didn't have very many guests. "I guess you all will be sleeping in the living room, huh? You can just put your bags anywhere. Lunch is ready! You all must be hungry." We put our bags in a corner next to the fireplace and TV. We walked into the next room, which was the dining room. The table was set for six. I sat down next to Crystal and Jeremie sat next to Aelita. Jeremie's father and mother sat across the table from each other. In the center of the table there was a bowl of corn, a bowl of mashed potatoes, a gravy bowl, and a full sized turkey. Either Jeremie's parents were loaded with money, or Jeremie's mother wanted to impress us. It worked. We filled our stomachs with the food, answering Jeremie's mother's questions about our school life and such as we went.

"What do you kids like to do when you aren't in class?" she asked. Jeremie's father choked slightly on his food, hoping we wouldn't tell about Lyoko, but went unnoticed by his wife.

"The four of us love computers. We spend the majority of our free time writing computer programs and things like that," I said after I had swallowed another mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"That's good. How long have you known Jeremie?"

"I've known him for almost a year, Crystal has known him for a little over a year, and Aelita has known him for almost two and a half years."

"So how long have you two been dating?" she asked Aelita. Jeremie almost choked on his water.

"Almost two and a half years," Aelita answered.

"Ahhh, love at first sight, eh?" she asked winking. Jeremie and Aelita blushed slightly.

"I guess," Aelita answered, her blush turning down a bit.

"And what about you two?" she said turning to Crystal.

"When he first saw me he fell on his knees, bowing and said, 'Aelita, you never told me you were companions with a royal'," she said turning to smile at me. "That was almost a year ago."

"Aww," she said smiling broadly. "How sweet." We finished our meal.

"The kids wanted me to show them what I do," Jeremie's dad said.

"Oh, all that computer stuff," she said. "Have fun, kids!" We put our plates in the sink and followed Jeremie's dad down the hall, making sure to grab our laptop bags first. Charley opened the door and we walked in. His computer was an extended tower, being three times as large as Jeremie's desktop. It was glowing blue. On the front there was a panel with several gauges on it. He walked over to it, opened the panal, and flipped a large breaker on the inside.

"I need the large computer to do everything I need. It has a 25 gigahertz quad core processor, two terabyte hard drive, four fans, and an unbelievable network adaptor. It's not half of the computer that the supercomputer is, but it makes for a pretty good home computer." We all connected our computers. I pulled the notes out of my bag.

"Where did you find those?" Charley said.

"The Hermitage," I answered. "Are they yours?"

"I never was fond of computers until John disappeared. No, they aren't mine. They were John's."

"Do you have any idea what happened to him?"

"None... They caught him... I'm sure he's out there, but there isn't any clue... What about Franz? Is he still on Lyoko?"

"No," I said. "He escaped." He sat in silence for a minute, noticing the look on Aelita's face.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. One day we will find him." We started programming the subprograms for the rest of the day until dinner, at which we ate, then programmed again.


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

**AN: I hope that you like what I did to link my two stories together.**

**(Alex first person)**

It was four days later on Christmas morning. We were laying in the living room, Jeremie on one couch, Aelita on another, and Crystal and I were in the floor. I didn't mind the floor. It was nice just to have a family supply me with a warm place to sleep. Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, Charley, and I had finished over fifty percent of the programming for the Skidbladnir, even with him working two of the days. Charley and Jeremie had also worked on a sketch for the skid. It consisted of a three passenger deck on top, for Aelita, Crystal, and me, one pilot and two copilots, and four smaller, individually navigated ships on the bottom. The ship would sit upright during dock and dive, but then would turn to have the four Nav-Skids out front. On top of the deck there was a small, gunlike object to be manned by one of the people in the deck, incase XANA had found a way to create monsters on the network. I woke up. Jeremie, Aelita, and Crystal were still asleep. I layed on the floor, staring at the ceiling, thinking about Christmas. I had read about it, both the religious aspect and the traditional aspect. Jeremie bolted up, immediatly looking over at Aelita to make sure she was okay.

"Hey," he whispered when he looked at me, putting on his glasses. "What's up?"

"Waiting to know what to do," I responded in the same whisper he had.

"Well, when the others wake up, we can eat breakfast, then when mom and dad wake up we will open presents."

Aelita sat up, a bead of sweat on her forehead. "Bad dream," she said. She walked over to Jeremie and sat down next to him. Crystal woke up about thirty minutes later. Jeremie stood up, helping Aelita to her feet with his hand. I did the same with Crystal. Jeremie led us to the kitchen, where he poured us each a bowl of cereal. We walked to the dining room and ate our breakfast. About half way through, Jeremie's mother and father walked in, poured their own cereal, and sat down with us.

"Good morning!" Jeremie's mother said excitedly. She was obviously a morning person.

"Good morning," we all said in unison. Jeremie's father sat at the opposite end of the table, staring into his bowl of cereal and his cup of coffee. He was obviously not a morning person. The only one of us that were a morning person was Aelita (who spent the entire breakfast in conversation with Jeremie's mother).

"So, what do you kids plan on doing after presents?"

"You mean you are going to give us things?" I asked.

"Of course! It's Christmas!"

"I wasn't expecting presents. Aelita and I haven't been able to celebrate Christmas in over ten years. Our father usually works on holidays."

"How sad," she said frowning. "But all of Jeremie's friends are family here!"

"Thank you, mam," I said smiling. I had never had anybody give me anything, except when Jeremie had given me a skateboard or Mr. Delmas give me my room key. We each finished our breakfast. We walked into the den where there was a Christmas tree against a corner. Underneath were several boxes. I sat down on a couch next to Crystal. Jeremie sat in the floor with Aelita. Jeremie's mom sat on another couch. Charley sat down in the floor next to the couch where Jeremie's mother was at and the Christmas tree. Charley started to sort out the presents into piles. Afterwards, he pushed each pile to each person. I didn't have many, compared to Jeremie, Charley, and Jeremie's mom, but I didn't mind. Also, they didn't know much about the three of us. I had three presents, as did Crystal and Aelita, each wrapped in a red plad pattern. At first, I wasn't sure what to do. Different cultures did different things before opening presents. I looked around at the others. The same look was on Aelita and Crystal's face. Then I heard Jeremie's mom.

"Oh, the foot massager!" she said putting her arms around Charley. Then I looked down at Jeremie, who was in the process of opening one of his presents. Aelita and Crystal started opening them, too. I opened one of my larger presents. After pulling off the wrapping I looked at the box. Inside was a laptop with a fifteen gigahertz processor, a terabit hard drive, two gigabytes of RAM, and a thin-tubed liquid cooling system. It was at least four times as good as my computer. I looked around at the other two, who had all had the same computer.

"I noticed your computers weren't as good as the newest, so I figured you wouldn't mind if I bought you a better one," Charley said. We all smiled at him. The next object the three of us opened was a four terabyte external hard drive with a usb input. The last thing the three of us opened was a disc palate, filled with two hundred, DVD+R duel layered discs. The top disc in my palate was marked. It said 'Finished Skidbladnir Program'. I looked up at him. Instead of sleeping, he had been working on our program for nights, secretly. I looked up at him. He had been smiling. Jeremie finished opening his presents, having recieved a few shirts and several upgrades to his desktop at school.

"Thanks, mom and dad," Jeremie said showing his gratitude. We all thanked them both, also. The three of us with the new computers pulled them out and started to set them up. Jeremie's mother and father picked up the trash wrapping and walked away.

"Look at this," I said picking up my disc palate.

"What?" Jeremie said sitting on the couch next to me. I pulled out the top disc in the palate and showed the others. They read it.

"I haven't programmed this computer to read it yet, but I can use my other computer until then." I pulled my other laptop out of my bag and put the disc in the disk drive. I opened the console and opened the disc initialization. A question mark appeared on the screen. A blue bubble surrounded it. The computer started to beep quietly. The screen moved over to reveal a green exclamation mark.

"It works..." Jeremie said. "Dad finished the program."

"It wasn't supposed to be finished for a month..." Crystal said.

"How did he do it?" Aelita asked. I opened the file.

"He didn't copy all of the subprograms from the notes. Some of these are improvised."

"But they still work," Jeremie said.

"So are we going to start work on the Skid's structure?" Aelita asked.

"Heck no," Jeremie said. "We're going to enjoy the remainder of our vacation. All we had planned on doing this week was working on the program, not even getting it finished. We can work on the structure when school starts again." I put my laptop down, taking the disc out and putting it back in the palate. Jeremie's mother and father walked back in.

"Did you like your presents?" Jeremie's mother asked smiling.

"Yes, mam," I said. The others nodded.

"Great!" she said. "Well, your father and I are going for a walk," she addressed Jeremie. "You kids have fun!"

The three of us with new laptops continued to set them up for the rest of the day so that they would be able to function with the supercomputer.

We were sitting up in our makeshift beds that night.

"Have you ever received anything for Christmas, Alex?" Jeremie asked.

"One year Franz made me an Arena on Lyoko to fight monsters for the entire day. Does that count?" I answered.

"I guess."

"I'm tired," Aelita said lying down.

"Me too," I added lying down.


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

**AN: I am probably going to slow down production because of school. I will still post whenever I finish a chapter.  
To squirmyorchid: She wasn't confused on how to open presents, she was confused on what to do since, like I said, different cultures do different things. She was simply waiting to find out what to do.**

**(Alex first person)**

The vacation was over. We were on our way back to school. Each of us said thanks to Charley a dozen or so times for the program. He dropped us off in front of the school. We stepped out and grabbed our bags.

"Find him, Alex," Charley said as we walked away.

"I will." I followed the others. I walked back to the others. The four of us walked to the dorm, dropped off our things, and walked down to the cafeteria for lunch. Ulrich noticed us walk in the door, stood up, and waved us over. We walked through the line and sat down with everyone.

"How was your vacation?" Aelita asked.

"I was grounded for most of the week for long distance calling Yumi," Ulrich said.

"I stayed with my aunt and uncle. They are probably the most boring people I've ever met," Yumi said.

"The camping trip ended quickly when a bear marauded the camp site," William said.

"We stayed at a pretty nice hotel in Italy. The food and everything was included so I stuffed myself," Peter said.

"I wish you guys would have given me some money..." was all Odd could say.

"What about you guys?" Yumi asked.

"We finished the programming for the Skid," Crystal said.

"How?" Ulrich asked. "I thought it wasn't going to be done for several more weeks."

"It wasn't," Jeremie said. "Until we found out that my dad was one of Franz's personal assistants." Everyone looked at Jeremie. Odd dropped his spoon.

"He what?" William asked.

"Yeah, turns out he was one of the original Lyoko warriors."

"Why didn't you know about this?" Odd asked.

"I don't know," Jeremie said sarcastically. "I guess he forgot to mention it over dinner."

"Either way," I interrupted. "He doesn't want to much to do with Lyoko. He said he might help us program some stuff when he has time, but other than that he would rather forget about it." Everyone but the four of us dropped their heads and continued eating. After lunch we walked back to the dorm. Jeremie immediately began to install his new hardware onto his desktop.

"So, how long until the Skid is ready to fly?" Odd asked.

"Technically, it is going to be swimming," I said. "Submarines don't fly."

"Whatever, how long?"

"A couple of weeks."

"Weeks?!" Odd said groaning.

"It would have been months," Crystal said. "We weren't expecting to me done with the programming 'til the end of January."

Jeremie finished installing all of the new hardware thirty minutes later. He booted up the desktop. He inserted the disc into the disk drive. No sooner than it had closed, the door flew off it's hinges and hit Jeremie in the back of the head. The door fell back onto the ground revealing Jeremie with his head bleeding softly out of a gash in his head and his head on the keyboard. A XANAfied Mr. Delmas walked into the dorm. I stood up and charged at him, holding my forearm under his neck.

"Get to the factory!" I yelled. "I'll hold him!" The others, minus Jeremie, ran out of the room and down the hall.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[The Lab]**

Aelita activated the timer. Everyone ran down to the scanner room. Aelita, Crystal, and Ulrich stepped into the scanners.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita, Crystal, and Ulrich fell into the desert sector.. Aelita and Crystal sat down on the ground, cross legged. They both swiped there hands into the air, creating their portable consoles. Ulrich pulled out both swords and looked around, prepared to attack in the case of monsters. William, Yumi, and Odd fell into Lyoko, followed by Peter. Each of the vehicles spawned next to their drivers. Crystal sat in the OverCar, Peter climbing in the passenger side. Aelita climbed on the OverWing with Yumi. Aelita pulled up the map.

"The tower is south," she said.

**[School]**

Alex was kicked back from holding Jim. He teleported behind him and grabbed Jim in a chokehold. Jim charged his hands with electricity and touched them to Alex's arms. Jim escaped from his grapnel and ran towards the computer in the dorm. Alex fell to the ground. He reached for the disk drive. Alex teleported next to him, grabbed his wrist with his left hand, and punched his chest with his right, sending him into the wall. Alex jumped at him with his foot out in front of him. Jim reached up and grabbed him, smacking him into the wall. Alex sprawled out on the bed. Jim stood up and walked towards the computer. Alex teleported onto the floor and kicked his legs out from under him. He put his hands on his wrists, pinning him to the ground.

**[Lyoko]**

They reached the area of the tower. It was surrounded by large rocks and towers of rock. There were several Tarantulas and Krabs. Crystal drove beside a Tarantula. Peter jumped out, landing on the Tarantula. He crossed his scimitars under its neck and pulled them together, cutting its head off. Ulrich rode up next, backflipping off of his OverBike, cutting a Krab down the center. Odd flew upside down, shooting a Tarantula in the face. A Krab shot the OverWing out from below Yumi and Aelita. Both of them dove behind one of the rock pillers. Yumi used her telekinesis to knock over the piller to destroy two Krabs and a Tarantula. Aelita shot one of her energy fields at a Tarantula but missed. William appeared under a Krab, spun around to knock all its legs out from under it, supersmoked out from under it as it fell, and stabbed it through the top. Crystal flipped a switch on the OverCar and jumped out, landing on a tarantula and stabbing it with her right knife. Ulrich deflected shots from a Tarantula after his OverBike was destroyed. One hit him in the left leg. Yumi came up behind it and threw one fan at its throut. Odd backflipped off of his OverBoard, sending it at a Tarantula's body, flying it off the edge. Peter deflected shots with both scimitars then put them together to create his bow and shot a Krab through the legs. As it fell over he ran over to it, jumped on it, and stabbed it in the head. Peter was shot in the back. He turned around to face the Krab that shot him. Crystal noticed it. She ran at Peter, putting her arms around his waist, and jumped off the edge. They both spread their arms out as the OverCar flew under them and caught them. She put her hand on his shoulder and healed him before flying back up to the terrain. William spun around with his sword in front of him, cutting several Tarantulas.

**[School]**

Alex picked up Mr. Delmas with his right hand and kicked him with his right leg out the dorm room and into the hall. Alex pulled the sheet off of his bed and held it to Jeremie's bloody head, which had now left a huge puddle of blood on the floor. Mr. Delmas stood up and looked at us. I gently placed Jeremie's head on the floor and stood in between Mr. Delmas and the computer.

**[Lyoko]**

Peter stepped out of the OverCar and began making his way through the ranks in between Crystal and the tower. Aelita sat down in his seat. Crystal accelerated and went under several Krabs and sent several Tarantulas over the top. She drifted around the tower and ended up with Aelita on the side with the tower. Crystal stepped out and began deflecting lasers back towards the group. Aelita ran for the tower. One shot hit Crystal directly in the face, sending her back over the top of the OverCar and devirtualizing on the other side. William supersmoked over to where Crystal had been standing and began to deflect the lasers to protect Aelita. Aelita ran into the tower. She calmly walked to the center and rode the virtual elevator up to the top floor. She entered the code Lyoko.

**[School]**

Mr. Delmas ran at Alex, both hands outstretched and flowing with electricity. Whenever he was within a few feet of Alex, he suddenly fell limp and onto the ground. The room began bright with the glow from the return to the past.

**(Alex first person)**

We were back in the dorm.

"What is up with XANA?" Odd asked. "What was he after?"

"What do you think?" William answered. "We just finished the Skid's programming, a task that should have taken months. If XANA could destroy it, it would take forever to get onto the network."

"Which is why I'm taking it down to the lab to put it in my protected folder," Jeremie said sternly, standing up and walking out the dorm door.

"What's up with him?" Peter asked.

"You have to understand, Peter," I said. "When Jeremie turned on the supercomputer, the only reason he didn't turn it back off was because he needed to get Aelita out. The only reason he doesn't turn it off now is then XANA would be able to attack the world without anybody being able to stop him. He thinks it's all his fault."

"He does know he did the right thing though, right?"

"We try to tell him," Ulrich said. "But he knows there was something he could have done about it."

"But without him, Aelita and Alex would still be living on Lyoko!"

"I know," Aelita said. "But he sees all the destruction that happens with every attack. It's hard not to blame yourself when you see how close we all come to dying."

**Post AN: I was thinking about making this into a series. I have an idea for a second series and I was wondering if anyone would read it. Here is the summary:**

**The Story of Alex: XANA reborn  
Three years after XANA was defeated for a second time, the supercomputer starts to beep yet again. XANA is back and this time he isn't here for world domination, he is here for revenge. More monsters and more deadly attacks in this second part of The Story of Alex.**

**Comment what you think about it.**


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

**(Alex first person)**

"Scan the frame," Jeremie said to Aelita. The four of us were sitting in the dorm on a sunday afternoon.

"Found it," she said with her screen turning red. "Structural weakness on the port side deck."

"Alex, power shield to the weakened area. Make sure not to take the power from the rest of the Skid. Crystal, implement the shield algorithm." The other five walked in.

"How's it going?" Peter asked.

"We've almost fixed the bug," Aelita said.

"When will it be pilotable?" Yumi asked as they sat down.

"Possibly tonight," Jeremie said not bothering to stop typing at his computer.

"We just finished the dock room in Carthage," Crystal said. "All we need now is to fix the structure."

"What was wrong with it?" Odd asked.

"Nothing big. Just a portion of the shield was messing up," I said. "It's no problem, though. We are able to fix it."

"Aelita, regrid the shield," Jeremie said.

"Got it," she replied.

"Crystal, reroute the power to the shield." The screen flashed with a blue, gridded sphere. The shield became solid. The screen slid over and revealed a green exclamation mark.

"It works," I said.

"We'll test it after lunch," Jeremie said. He transferred all the files to the supercomputer and stood up. We all followed him out of the room and down the hall. We walked into the cafeteria and sat at our table with our lunch.

"The dock is set up in Carthage," he told the uninformed.

"The elevator will take us right to it," Aelita said.

"But not all of us," I added. "The ship is only large enough to hold seven of us. One of us will have to stay behind."

"I will," Peter said putting down his water.

"Are you sure?" William asked. "I can stay behind incase XANA attacks or something."

"No, it's fine. You guys were in the group first. It's only right that you guys go first," he said.

"Okay," William said shrugging off the concept.

"Anyways, I'm not sure what the network will look like," Jeremie said.

"Or if XANA has infected it with monsters like on Lyoko," Crystal added.

"Exactly. And if you are lost on the network and I can't find you, such as if your ship loses power, I won't be able to bring you back, so be careful."

"Got it," Ulrich said. We finished our meal and walked out of the cafeteria. We walked down to the park. Everyone climbed down the ladder. At the bottom, there were seven skateboards, as opposed to the six. Odd picked one up and handed it to Peter. He smiled as he accepted it. We rode through the sewers and climbed the ladder to the bridge. We walked across the bridge and slid down our ropes. Jeremie took the elevator down to the control room. He opened up the program and looked at the Skid and the dock room.

"Go on down to the scanner rooms," Jeremie said pulling up the virtualization panal.

**[Third person omniscient]**

Alex, Crystal, and Aelita fell in the middle of Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich in Carthage, followed by William. Everyone followed Aelita, Alex, and Crystal down the hall and onto the elevator. They took the elevator up past the bridge room and into the dock room. It was poorly pieced together with several spaces missing in the floor. Pillers that looked like flood lights held the Skidbladnir in position. The port was made of seven circles, two in front, three in the middle, and two behind those. Aelita stepped in the middle one, Alex stepped on the right-middle one, and Crystal stepped on the left-middle one. The others took their spots at random.

"Energise," Jeremie said. Rings of light surrounded the seven of them. The next thing they knew they were sitting in the Skidbladnir. In the dock, Crystal and Alex sat behind Aelita in a 'V' formation.

"Releasing restraints," Alex said. The pillers moved back.

"Increasing thrusters," Aelita said. The ship started to move up and out of the dock room. It came out of Carthage and lowered down near the digital sea. "Diving." The Skid jumped down into the digital sea. They exited a port connected to the bottom of Lyoko.

"What's it look like?" Jeremie asked.

"It looks like an upside down city," Crystal said.

"Downloading holomap," Jeremie said. "Search around a bit. We need some data on it before we can actually start scanning for the other supercomputers." Aelita flew around, everyone admiring the view of the network. Suddenly, the sea turned red.

"What's going on, Jeremie?" Yumi asked from her Nav-Skid.

"Just as I thought," he responded. "XANA has infected the network with his monsters."

"Deploying Nav-Skids," Crystal said. The four others flew off. Several underjawed fish flew in from behind the Skid swam at the others. William followed close to Yumi. He hit his brake hard, sending two fish ahead of him.

"Got you now," he said as his sights locked on. He fired two torpedos at each of the fish. Ulrich and Odd flew side by side, followed by a few of the fish. Ulrich pulled up on the joystick controlling his Nav-Skid, and backflipped behind the group. He shot two torpedos, hitting two of the fish. Odd slammed his breaks. The fish veered out of the way to avoid hitting the vehicle. Odd shot at the remaining fish.

"More incoming," Jeremie said. "But these look different from here. They're heading for the Skid!" The three on deck looked around the sea. Their eyes fell upon three shark-looking monsters. They immediately began shooting the Skid.

"Crystal!" Alex yelled. "Get the turret!"

"Got it!" She flipped a switch on her panel. Her seat moved back. In front of her was a window showing a first person view of a turret. A joystick appeared in front of her. She grabbed it and moved her view to see the sharks. She pressed a button on top, firing at one of them. She followed through with shooting the other two. The sea turned blue again.

"Everyone back to the Skid," Jeremie told the pilots of the Nav-Skids. They flew back and docked onto the sides of the Skid. "Back to Lyoko."

"But-" Odd said.

"Captain's orders," Alex said. Aelita turned the ship around and headed back to port.

**[Alex first person]**

We rode the elevator up to the control room.

"What gives?" Odd asked.

"I have enough data and I didn't want you all to get stuck in the network, which, shall I remind you, if you do, you are permanently stuck there until either someone finds you, or your ship deteriorates from the digital sea."

"So, what are we going to call the monsters?" Ulrich asked Odd.

"I think we should call the fish-things, Kongres,"

"Why do you have to go and make everything complicated, Odd?" Yumi asked. "I say we name the others Sharks."

"Fine, but we keep the Kongres," Odd said.

"It's weird," I said.

"What is?" Jeremie asked.

"Everything in the digital sea, except the monsters, are a bit hazy. It's hard to see there."

"Shouldn't being in the digital sea help you see better?" Peter asked.

"I should think so. But it's all foggy and hard to see."

"So, you are, basically, useless in the network?" Odd asked. Ulrich reached over and slapped his shoulder.

"No," I said. "I can still read the monitors and everything. I just can't pilot it, shoot the turret, or anything like that. I can't see much past the console."

**Post AN: I know, not much of a weakness, squirmyorchid, but it does put them off at a disadvantage, seeing as how Alex is their best warrior and is useless in the network. As I said earlier, I will keep trying to add weaknesses to the warriors or strengths to XANA to make it more challenging for the warriors to succeed.**


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

**AN: To magmon1000: Your review gave me an idea for an attack. It will not be in this chapter, (for suspense reasons, if I just did an attack immediately after the suggestion, everyone would expect it) but at another random chapter. It will not be the same attack, but it will be in a chapter. I won't do the same attack because I simply can't hold on to a minor plot change such as that. Which brings me to my next point. All viewers of this story may PM or post an attack suggestion for me. I will either do the exact attack or get an inspiration from for one.  
To squirmyorchid: I already have ideas for a few strengths of XANA and weaknesses of the group. Also, Odd is not mean, he simply has a friendly competitive nature, especially against Alex.**

**(Alex first person)**

"When are we going back to the network?" Odd asked at lunch one day after class. It had been almost a week since the trip. Odd had been eagar since then.

"Tonight," Jeremie said with a mouth full of pasta, covering his mouth. He swallowed. "The scan found another virtual presence sphere, such as Lyoko. I'm going to need more data from it before I can find a way to get rid of XANA in it."

"Great!" Odd nearly yelled.

"Yeah," Jeremie responded. "But, most importantly, if it doesn't have access to the operating system or memory, such as Carthage, we are going to need to find some other way of disabling it."

"What do you have in mind?" William asked.

"Nothing, yet. But even without the ability to destroy it, we will be able to locate the physical location once you are inside."

"Any idea where this one is at yet?" Ulrich asked.

"Not yet," Aelita said. "So far the internet protocol scan has shown that it is somewhere in Asia, though."

"It will need to have the port number before it can be completed though. The closest it can get is twenty, maybe fifteen, latitude and longitude," I said.

"Is that bad?" Peter asked. "I mean, how many computers, able to hold a virtual world, can possibly be in Asia?"

"You'd be surprised how many abandoned laboratories there are in Asia. XANA could easily infect any of them and create one," Jeremie said.

"Why would he need to create a virtual world?" Yumi asked. "Couldn't he just attack the world without one?"

"Not exactly," Crystal said. "The special thing about Lyoko is the fact that it has access to the necessary ports. Without one, XANA would just be an ordinary virus." We ate our lunch and walked down to the dorm.

"I have the ip address," he said. "We can go now." Everyone ran down the hall and out the door to the park. I picked up the lid and we climbed down the sewers. We picked up our transportation and rode through the sewers to the ladder. Everyone climbed up on to the bridge. We ran into the factory and rode the elevator down to the scanner room, except Jeremie and Peter who exited at the control room. Ulrich, Crystal, and I stepped into the scanners.

**(Third person omniscient)**

William fell into Lyoko in the middle of Carthage, the others surrounding him. Everyone ran into the corridor and jumped onto the elevator. Everyone stepped on the elevator. Dark William appeared out of no where and grabbed Yumi around the neck and pushed her against the wall.

"Yumi!" Ulrich yelled. He ran at her holder. Dark William swung around and kicked Ulrich back onto the elevator.

"Just go!" she yelled. Behind her everyone could see the Scyphozoa floating into the room.

"No!" Ulrich yelled back, running towards her. She put both hands on her head and forced Ulrich back and the elevator up with her telekinesis. Alex pulled up his staff and shot her in the face, devirtualizing her. He looked around to see single nods from the others. Everyone looked down at Dark William. He turned to see them. He growled at them then supersmoked to follow them.

"Move!" Alex shouted when the elevator reached the top. Everyone ran towards the mount board. Dark William appeared and drew his sword. Alex lengthened his staff. Dark William ran at Alex, sword over his right shoulder. He brought his sword down at Alex, at which he blocked with his staff. Alex kicked him back. Odd turned on the platform and shot Dark William in the chest. Dark William stumbled back. Odd shot his wrist, causing him to drop his sword. Alex vaulted on his staff and kicked William down to the ground. He ran back to the platform. Dark William reached for his sword. Upon clutching it, he supersmoked at the group. Rings appeared around everyone and they were teleported into the Skid. Dark William reappeared at the spot that he thought was Alex's body and swung his sword at what he thought was Alex's head. Realizing what had happened, he growled and looked up at the ship.

"Get the turret!" Alex yelled to Crystal. A turret appeared on top of the Skid and aimed at Dark WIlliam. Before he could react, several shots hit him in the center of the chest, sending him back off of his feet and devirtualizing him. Alex released the dock and Aelita blasted the thrusters and lifted everyone out of the hanger. They lowered down to the digital sea.

"Diving," Aelita said. The thrusters increased and put everyone into the digital sea. The Skid came out in the network. Alex changed the position of the lower deck. The wings spread out to the sides and the lights on them turned on.

"Okay," Jeremie said. "You guys are going to need to find a transfer port."

"What's that look like?" Odd asked looking around.

"Found it," Aelita said. A large, round, metal ring with a swirling vortex arrived in front of them.

"Oh," Odd said. "How did I miss that?"

"Entering approximate physical address," Jeremie said.

"Diving," Aelita said. The ship was plunged into the vortex. The next thing they knew, they came out of another port.

"I can't guide you from this point," Jeremie said.

"It's okay," Aelita said. "We found it." A giant sphere, similar to the one they had come out of, was in front of them. Aelita flew over to it and Alex shifted the position back down to upright position. A beam shot out of the center of the deck.

"Cracking the secure connection," Jeremie announced. The port opened up moments later and the Skid floated in slowly. "What does it look like? The Hologram isn't downloaded yet."

"It looks like the desert sector," Crystal said. "Can you see in here, Alex?"

"Yes," Alex answered. "It looks like Lyoko."

"Hologram downloaded," Jeremie announced. "It doesn't seem to be as complicated as Lyoko. It's only made up of the desert sector."

"Docking," Aelita said. She piloted over to a tower close to the edge of the sector. Everyone was transported out of the sector and onto the terrain.

"Sending Peter," Jeremie said. Peter appeared in the air next to the Skid and fell to the ground.

"Wow.." he said admiring the Skid.

"Aelita is going to need to get some data from the tower," Jeremie said. "The rest of you can explore or do what ever you feel until then. The OverBike, OverCar, and OverBoard spawned.

"What about us?" Peter asked.

"Alex asked for at least one person to stay behind with him and help protect the tower and Aelita," Jeremie explained.

"Okay, just wondering," he responded. "No complaints." He walked over to a rock, twisted his bow apart, stabbed both ends into the ground, and leaned against the rock. Ulrich and Odd mounted their vehicles. Ulrich revved his OverBike and they flew off. William ran behind them, jumped in the air, and supersmoked behind them. Crystal stepped in the OverCar and drove after them, catching up quickly. Aelita walked into the tower.

"What are the rules for devirtualization here, Jeremie?" Peter asked.

"Devirtualization in a Replika will bring you back to the scanners through the Skid's connection to the supercomputer," Jeremie said.

"Good to know," Peter said. Alex sat down on the ground and propped himself against a rock.

"Hold on," Jeremie said after a few minutes. "It looks like a group of monsters coming towards the tower." Alex immediately stood up, as did Peter. "The others are on their way back." Peter picked up his scimitars and put them back together to make his bow. He pushed his snipe-glass down over his right eye and closed his left. He drew back his imaginary string, preparing to shoot. Outside of Alex's field of view, but inside Peter's snipe-glass, several Krabs were walking towards the plain. Peter released his arrow, sending an arrow at the group. He didn't bother waiting to see where that one hit before drawing his bow again and sending another two at the group. They came into Alex's sight and he immediately shot lasers at them, hitting two of the Krabs in the face. Behind the Krabs were several Bloks. Alex ran at the group, Peter continuing to snipe for him. He deflected several lasers being shot at him. Peter shot the Krab in front that was charging a laser to shoot Alex. Alex jumped on top of it as it was devirtualizing. The two Krabs on the sides of it turned to look at him. The Krab disappeared from below him, causing him to fall towards the ground. Just as both Krabs were eye level with each other, they shot, hoping to hit Alex, but instead hit each other in the face. Alex landed on the ground, one hand supporting him, the other holding his staff above his back. A Megatank rolled at him, past the group of Bloks and Krabs. Alex teleported at of the way. Following behind the Megatank was a hoard of monsters of all types. A Hornet shot Alex in the shoulder. Alex teleported beside Peter. The Megatank opened up and charged a laser at the tower. William appeared and saved the shot with his sword. Odd flew behind him and shot it in the eye. Ulrich jumped off of his OverBike and swirled to hit four Hornets, then landed back on the OverBike. Crystal passed through where they wave of the Megatank used to be, not veering her path. At the last moment before reaching the edge, she drifted around, sending herself out the window. Rings appeared around her. She appeared in her seat. The gun appeared on top of the Skid. She grabbed the control and sprayed shots at the group of monsters. The group dove behind rocks.

"I think I win," Crystal said with a smile. Everyone popped their heads out from behind the rocks. Aelita ran out of the tower with an energy field in her hand. She shot at where she thought the hoard of monsters would be.

"Awww!" she said when she realized all of the monsters had been devirtualized. Everyone else laughed. Jeremie took everyone into the Skid and Aelita piloted it back to Lyoko.

**(Alex first person)**

We all took the elevator up to the control room. Yumi was sitting on the Hologram. Ulrich ran over to her and put his arm around her.

"What does XANA want with Yumi?" Ulrich asked getting straight to what was on his mind.

"I don't exactly know," Jeremie responded. "But think about it this way. If XANA can trap one of you on Lyoko, that is one of you that can't help us, but is instead helping him. Either way, we treat the Scyphozoa the same way we have been: avoid entirely. Understand?" Everyone nodded. "Good. I think we have enough data to start researching possible ways to destroy XANA. Let's head back." We all walked to the elevator and went to the dorm.


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

**(Alex first person)**

We all sat in the dorm on a Saturday at noon.

"What is the plan for today?" Odd asked. "Studying the data?"

"Actually, I was hoping we could get away from the computer, today," Aelita said, to Jeremie as more of a command than a hope.

"Sounds good to me," he said back to her. "What's the plan?"

"I don't know," she said.

"How about the pool?" Ulrich asked.

"After last time?" Odd asked. "No."

"What about the rec room?" William asked.

"Again, after last time?" Odd asked again. "I think not."

"We could just go for a walk around town," Crystal said blankly, half ignoring the idea of doing something non-productive, half actually wanting to walk around town.

"Well, I'm going to the pool," Ulrich said. "Wanna come, Yumi?"

"Glad to," she said smiling. "Let me just run home real quick." The two of them left the room.

"We still haven't settled the Foosball battle game," Peter said to William. "I called a rematch."

"Let's go," William said accepting the challenge. They stood up and walked to the door.

"Dang it! I wanna see that!" Odd said when the two of them had reached the door. That left Aelita, Jeremie, Crystal, and I alone in the room.

"So, how about that walk?" Jeremie said standing up.

"Really?" Crystal asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Jeremie asked. "It's starting to be about dinner time anyways."

"Okay," I said walking over to the closet. I opened it and took out a bit of money. We walked outside and walked out the gate.

"Where are we going?" Jeremie asked.

"I don't know," Crystal said. "Anywhere I guess." We continued walking around town for about fifteen minutes.

"How about here?" Aelita asked. It was a fairly nice restaurant and we were all hungry anyways.

"Seems like a plan to me," I said. I opened the door and held it as the others walked in.

"Greeting, sir," the man at the counter said to me leading the group. "A table for four, I assume? Right this way." He lead us to a table on the far side of the restaurant where we ate our dinner.

We walked out of the restaurants after our meal, my arm around Crystal and Jeremie's around Aelita. We were laughing and talking about various things. We turned a corner and heard the sound of glass breaking.

"Well, well," A man in an alley way said grabbing another glass of liquor from one of his 'friends' and pulling off the lid. He took a large swig with his left hand, holding a bat in his right, which led me to believe he was playing baseball with the empty bottles. "What do we have here?" He pushed Jeremie backwards and put his hand under Aelita's chin. He leaned real close to her. She winced at the smell of alcohol on his breath. I know she did. I did too. I stepped in between the alley and Crystal. I was protective of Aelita, but territorial of Crystal.

"She sure is a looker," one of the guys behind him said. It was obvious they were all perverted and drunk, not the best combination.

"Man, I sure would like to kiss you," the man said running his fingers through Aelita's hair.

"Get in line," Jeremie said pushing the alcoholic back with his left hand and Aelita behind him with his right. I was suprised about how much Jeremie had changed simply during the duration of us knowing each other. Behind them a door opened and a man stumbled out surrounded by smoke. He fell to the ground, his bottle breaking against the ground. The group entirely ignored him, eyeing down Jeremie. The man threw his half-full glass against a wall and grabbed the bat with both hands. He swung at Jeremie's head. I quickly stepped next to him, grabbing the bat with one hand. The pressure of my hand and the force of the man made the bat snap in half. The sharded edge of the wood missed Jeremie's face by inches. The man stumbled around and fell to the ground. I threw the bat at his forehead, knocking him out. The people behind the man all threw their liquor and picked up various objects: bats, crowbars, long pieces of wood, and one of them even pulled a small pistol out of his back pocket. I pushed the others behind me. One of them swung a bat at me. I grabbed the bat, hit the guy in the wrist to take the bat from him, and swung it back at his face, knocking him against a wall. I tossed the bat down. Another swung at me with a plank of wood. I stuck up my hand, breaking the wood as it hit me, then punched the man in the nose, knocking him back to the ground. The man with the gun walked up, obviously having trouble aiming it under intoxication. I grabbed his wrist and kicked his legs out from under him. A man with a bat walked up and attempted to swing the bat down on me. I rolled out of the way and he hit the man with the gun. I fired the gun, shooting the man at the back of the group in the leg, causing him to fall over. I stood on my hands and kicked the guy with the bat in the head. I walked back to the group. Behind us, the guy that was thrown out of the alley bar stood up and walked toward us. When he was a couple of feet from us, he put his hands up. We all observed the eye indicating XANA's possession in his eyes.

"Run!" I yelled pushing the others ahead of me. We took off down the street towards the factory. I pulled out my phone.

"Hello? Ulrich? Are you with the others? Good. XANA is attacking. We are on our way to the lab. Hurry." I hung up my phone and continued running. The man was catching up to us.

"Do you think it's a XANAfied person or a specter?" Aelita asked while running.

"I think it's a XANAfied person," I said. "A spector wouldn't be drinking."

"Either way, what difference does it make? He is still chasing us!" Crystal said.

"If it was a specter, it could fly at us or pass through walls and stuff," Jeremie said. "It gives a huge tactical advantage to know it's state." We ran across the bridge just as Ulrich pulled open the lid to the sewers.

"Let's go!" I said running by. I jumped onto the rope and slid down. Everyone else followed. Everyone climbed in the elevator. Just as the doors closed, the XANAfied man jumped down from the stairs. Everyone walked over to the supercomputer.

"The activated tower is in the forest sector," Jeremie said. Everyone except Jeremie and I.

"One of us should stay behind and protect Jeremie," I said.

"Got it," William said.

"Watch Aelita," I whispered to Peter as he passed.

"I will," he said. They all rode the elevator down to the scanner room.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Peter fell into the midst of the six others. He twirled his bow in his left hand.

"The tower is east, north-east. Here come your vehicles," Jeremie said. Crystal stepped into the driver seat of the OverCar. Peter climbed in beside her. Aelita jumped onto the OverWing with Yumi. Everyone rode east, except William who supersmoked. They arrived at the area of the tower. It was an uphill slope onto a small ring by which the tower was held. At the base of the slope there was a row of four Krabs. In front of them there was a row of eight Tarantulas. Peter stood in his seat and shot at the group. The arrow went through the face of one of the Tarantulas. Odd flew upside down and shot on of the Krabs in the face. The Krabs fired up at him, hitting his OverBoard out from beneath him. Odd fell, shooting at the group as he decended, hitting one of the Tarantulas in the mouth. Yumi threw her fan at the group, hitting the legs out from beneath one of them on the side. It lost balance and fell off into the digital sea. William appeared under a Krab. He swirled around,cutting off all of its legs. He put his sword up, hitting it through the bottom as it fell. Crystal drifted sideways, pulled out a throwing knife, and tossed it over the top of the OverCar and into the face of a Tarantula. Behind the group, a herd of Bloks walked towards them. Ulrich drifted around to face them, holding one sword in his hand. He charged at them. One of the Bloks shot a freeze ray at him, freezing his OverBike to the ground and sending him flying over it. He twisted in air and cut one of them down the side. Odd turned to face them. He cat-ran at them. He jumped in the air to shoot at them, but was shot in the back by one of the Tarantulas. Peter stepped out of the OverCar while it was moving and shot it in the neck.

**[The Lab]**

The bar man climbed across the ceiling above Jeremie and Alex. Alex took an attack stance. The man dropped from the ceiling, shaking the lab slightly. Alex kicked him back against the wall. He ran at him and swung his right fist at him. The man moved out of the way, leaving a large crack in the wall. He kicked Alex back. The man ran at him with his arms reached out towards him. Alex grabbed his right arm and twisted it around, kicking him back to the wall.

**[Lyoko]**

Odd shot two of the Bloks while lying on the ground. Ulrich used both swords to cut through four of the Bloks. Peter turned around and shot the last Blok as it was charging a laser to hit Odd. William appeared and overhead swung his sword at a Tarantula. Another one shot him in the back. He turned around and supersmoked to in. He landed on it and cut through its neck. A Krab hit him in the chest into a tree causing him to drop his sword. The Krab held him against the tree. Smoke flew parallel with the right side of the OverWing. It solidified just long enough to reveal Dark William before cutting through the side of the vehicle and smoking again. Aelita flew off the side and towards the digital sea. Crystal drove as fast as she could off the side of the forest sector. She fell, shifting gears as she turned vertical. She flew under Aelita, catching her in the passenger seat, and flew back up to the landscape. Peter ran at Dark William, twisting apart his bow. Dark William swung his sword down at him. Peter caught it between both of his scimitars and kicked him in the chest. Dark William supersmoked behind him and slashed for Peter's legs, but Peter jumped over it. Dark William kicked him back against a tree. Odd attempted to shoot William in the side of the head, but William turned and blocked it with the side of his sword. Yumi turned around and threw a sword at him. He turned and parried the fan. Crystal landed the OverCar. Aelita stepped out and shot an energy field at William, but he absorbed it into the side of his sword. Crystal charged him and put both arms around his waist and fell off into the digital sea.

**[The Lab]**

Crystal stepped out of the scanner. She checked the elevator access button, but it didn't open.

"Jeremie must have shut it off to keep the guy from getting into the lab," she said, then started to climb the ladder. Upon reaching the top, she immediately noticed Alex in full combat with the guy. She climbed up and ran at the man. He kicked her back into the wall, both hands on Alex's right arm.

"Crystal!" Alex yelled looking at her. The next thing Alex said was horrifying to Crystal's ears. A large snap, followed by Alex screaming. Crystal looked at him, his right arm was in an awkward position behind his back, being obviously bent beyond its intended position. Blood trickled from a part in his arm where his humerus was sticking out of his skin. Crystal ran back at him, swinging her left fist at him, then her right. The man deflected both hits, then picked her up by her neck. She also began to scream as his grip slowly tightened.

**[Lyoko]**

"Supersprint!" Ulrich yelled before running ahead of Aelita. He jumped onto the Krab holding William and stabbed in into the head. William picked up his sword and ran to Aelita, pulling her towards the tower. A Tarantula shot at Aelita. Yumi jumped in front of it and threw one of her fans at it as she absorbed its laser in her thigh. William continued running and pushed Aelita into the tower. She floated up to the top floor of the tower.

**[The Lab]**

Crystal stopped screaming, no longer able to breathe. She looked out the corner of her eye and saw the tower highlighted on the screen of the supercomputer turn from red to blue.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremie yelled.

**(Alex first person)**

We walked out of the restaurants after our meal, my arm around Crystal and Jeremie's around Aelita. We looked at the direction we traveled the time before, and decided it would be better for each of us to take a different route back to school.


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

**AN: In response to one of my reviews, I am going to start showing a bit more of the other character's lives and personalities. Also, I wanted to say that if season 6 isn't out by the time I finish season 5, I will end the 5th season... differently... This is by far my longest chapter, but someone asked for detail so here you go. Remember to review.**

**(Alex first person)**

We were all in the dorm early Monday morning before breakfast, beginning work on the data. Not much was done the day before, seeing how we had both neglected processing the data, and were too tired.

"What was up with that possessed man?" I asked, finally saying what was on Jeremie, Crystal, and my mind. "He seemed to be much stronger this time."

"Well, he was intoxicated, right?" Crystal asked. "Well, with the alcohol in his blood, it would have made him much stronger and violent. Also, him having been under XANA's conscience, he wouldn't have suffered from the consequences of the intoxication, such as the inability to walk straight."

"That's a good _theory," _Yumi said stressing the word. "But what about Dark William? He was able to take the six of us on fairly easy. If it weren't for Crystal tackling him off the edge, he could have possibly taken us all on," she said motioning to the six that actually fought Dark William.

"I was there, too," William said.

"Pinned to a tree," Odd laughed.

"No," Jeremie said disapproving Crystal's theory. "I think it's safe to assume that the root of the problem is simple: XANA is getting much stronger." I looked down at my watch.

"It's time to go," I said putting my laptop down. We walked out the door and down to the cafeteria.

"Is the data any good?" Peter asked when we sat down.

"It'll take a while before the data is completely sorted out," Aelita said. Some of us finished.

"I've got to go back to the dorm and get ready for chemistry," Crystal said.

"See you there," I called as she walked back to her dorm.

"I better go get ready, too," Peter said. "Being switched into honors chemistry half way through the year is a bit much to go into without being fully prepared for class," he took his tray and walked down the hall towards the dorms.

**(Peter third person limited)**

Peter walked out of his dorm, then, for the real reason he left the others, walked to Aelita and Crystal's dorm. He knocked three times.

"Come in," Crystal said from the other side. "Hey, Peter," she said after he entered. "What's up?" She was on her computer.

"You're pretty good at computers," he said, attempting to start a conversation.

"Umm, yeah, I guess. I wasn't into them until I met Alex. But when your boyfriend is a computer program, it helps to know something about him," she said.

"Well, I wanted to let all of you guys know how thankful I am that you guys accepted me into the group, but I was afraid it might sound cliché or something... Nevermind... I wouldn't expect any of you to understand..."

"Actually I think I do," she said smiling. Peter gave her a weird facial expression. "It was an attack. The school was falling apart from an earthquake. Aelita took me safely outside. She could have left me there. I would have been alright, more or less, but instead she took me with her. The radio tower on top of the science building toppled over on its way to crush Aelita. I dove, pushing her to the ground. I'm not sure what happened next, but next thing I knew I heard a snap. I had landed on my leg sideways. Ulrich picked me up and carried me through the sewers. Instead of trying to deactivate the tower and forget about me, Jeremie told them to take me into the scanners. They didn't decide to make it a close call and leave me there to bleed out. They saved me. I can't express how thankful I am for that. Is that what you mean?" Peter nodded. "They asked me if I wanted to stay in the group. How could I say no? After that first experience... I don't know. You just can't walk out of Lyoko and say, 'That place is horrible! I'm never going back!'." Peter smiled.

"I'm glad someone agrees with me," he said. "I've got to go to chemistry, now. See you there."

"See ya," Crystal said turning back to her computer.

**(Alex first person)**

We walked into chemistry. There were a few flasks of chemicals on Ms. Hertz counter. We all took seats. Upon sitting, Aelita pulled out Mr. Puck. She was, yet again, carrying it with her everywhere she went. None of us blamed her. It was, after all, the only piece of her past that she had any real connection with. Ms. Hertz walked in and stood behind her counter.

"Class, up here, please," she said gathering the attention to her counter. Everyone walked up. "In this bottle, we have acetone. Can anyone tell me what the chemical formula for this is?" Jeremie and I calmly raised our hands, but Herb was practically jumping to get her attention. "Jeremie?" Herb put his arms down and stared malevolently at Jeremie.

"Carbon Hydrogen three Carbon Oxygen Carbon Hydrogen three," Jeremie said blankly.

"Correct. Any idea what it's used for?" Again, three of us raised our hands. "Alex?"

"It is used to remove paint and other artificial chemical color stainers from surfaces."

"Correct, again," she said. She picked up another bottle. "This one contains a borax solution. Anyone know its chemical name?" Again, only the three of us raised our hands. "Pichon, I am not going to call on you as long as you keep acting like a fool in my class. Jeremie?"

"Sodium tetraborate," Jeremie said in the same tone as before.

"Now, Pichon," she said annoyed. "What can it be used in?"

"Household cleaning supplies," he said as if finally getting rid of some burden. She picked up the last bottle.

"This one is Vitriol, or?"

"Sulfuric acid," Jeremie said matter-of-factly.

"Indeed. And is made of?"

"Two Hydrogen atoms, one Sulfur atom, and four Oxygen atoms," I said as if bored.

"Very good. Back to your seats." She walked around and placed small beakers of each of the three chemicals on our tables and one empty beaker.

"Your lab grade will be to create twenty milliliters of Boric acid," she said. "But be _extreamly careful_. The sulfuric acid is highly acidic. The smallest drop can burn right through one of these tables. Good luck." I pushed aside the acetone and picked up the Borax and the sulfuric acid.

Crystal and I had finished within a few seconds, since I had already known the acetone was a bluff. I looked up at the front of the room. Ms. Hertz was writing the equation for Boric acid on the board. She tensed up for a second, then placed the dry erase marker down. Jeremie's laptop started to beep, and, without warning, Ms. Hertz turned around and chucked the bottle of sulfuric acid at Aelita's face. I moved as fast as I could, picking up an empty beaker, and stepped in front of Aelita. I caught the flask and allowed the acid to be caught in the beaker. Everyone else in the room yelled and dove beneath their desk. She stood next to the door then grabbed the closest table's flask of acetone and threw that, too. I grabbed it around the thin part, spun around, and threw it back at her. She ducked and the bottle smashed across the door. She picked up the table's bottle of sulfuric acid and threw it. I picked up Aelita and jumped out the window, breaking the glass with his shoulder and landing perfectly on the ground. Jeremie jumped out too, and I caught him. Peter and Crystal climbed out the window, climbing down with skill, dropping to each window ledge carefully. Ulrich looked down from the window, as Odd started to climb out.

"Coming?" Odd asked him. Ulrich dodged yet another bottle of sulfuric acid.

"I.. Can't.." he said wincing back at the sight. "Vertago..."

"Well, I just can't leave you here to face her alone," Odd said stepping back into the room as a bottle of Borax flew out. He motioned down for us to go on.

"Call Yumi," I said pulling off the lid. "And tell her to bring William.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Science building]**

"Come at us!" Ulrich yelled. Instead, Ms. Hertz opened the door and ran out and down the hall in attempt to stop the others.

"No you don't!" Odd shouted after her, jumping across tables to get to the door. Ulrich did the same. They ran out the room after her as fast as they could.

**[The Track]**

Yumi sat next to William in the stands watching the others play a game of soccer. Her phone started to vibrate. It was Peter.

"Hey... XANA? Okay... Yeah, William is here with me... On our way." She nodded at William. They both ran down the stands and ran towards the park, making sure Jim was focusing on the game.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita spawned in the middle of the group in the ice sector, suddenly sporting a new band on her right wrist with a star on it.

"Suprise," Jeremie said.

"What is it?" Aelita asked observing it closely.

"Well, I was thinking about how you were almost sent into the digital sea Saturday, so I solved that," Jeremie said.

"Okay, but what is it?" Aelita asked again.

"Wings," Jeremie said as if it was obvious. "It's activated by close motion sensors." Aelita glided her left hand over her right. Pink wings appeared at her shoulder blades. She flapped them a few times.

"I like them," she said gazing at them. She flew up a few feet. The OverCar and OverBike spawned. Peter went to climb on the back of the OverCar.

"Nope," Alex said. "That one's for you." He motioned to the OverBike.

"How am I supposed to drive while holding this?" he asked holding up his bow. Alex walked over to him, took his bow, and touched it to Peter's back, the top part being above his left shoulder down towards his right side. It held there, stuck to his back.

"I see everything," Alex said before teleporting next to the OverCar and stepping inside with Crystal.

"Cool," Peter said. He ran and jumped onto the OverBike.

"Hold up," Jeremie said. "Here come Yumi and William." The OverWing spawned along with them.

"Nice wings, Aelita," Yumi said noticing Aelita enjoying her new flight abilities.

"The tower is north," Jeremie said.

**[School grounds]**

Ms. Hertz ran out of the science building and towards the park. Odd jumped on her, driving her to the ground.

"I got her!" Odd yelled back to Ulrich. As he did, Ms. Hertz charged her hands with electricity and touched it to Odd's shoulder. Ulrich pulled him off of her to protect him from the electricity. She began to climb to her feet again. Ulrich kicked at her, but she phased out, sending his leg through her. He fell backwards. She stood again, taking off for the park. Odd, still shaking from the electricity, pulled out his phone.

"Jeremie... The XANAfication is pretty strong... No, we're still trying to stop it... On her way to the factory... Okay..." He hung up. "Jeremie is going to do his best to help slow her down, but it won't last for long. We need to go after her." He shook off the electricity. Ulrich stood up and rubbed his back. They ran off after her.

**[Lyoko]**

They arrived at the area of the tower. It was a thin ice bridge with a large flat at the other end with few spikes of ice jutting from the ground. Several Bloks and Kankrolots filled the flat, along with Hornets in the sky. Peter led the group. The monsters shot.

"Contain!" Peter yelled taking both hands off the handlebars and putting them about six inches apart. A clear force field appeared between the hands. He moved them around, catching the lasers. "Return!" he said making a hadouken-like move with his hands, sending the lasers back at them, taking out several of the monsters. It didn't suprise the group, though. He did the same against Alex on his practice day. Yumi threw a fan at the Hornets. Aelita swirled in air and shot two energy fields at the Bloks. Alex pulled up his staff and shot the several of the Hornets out of the sky. Crystal threw one of her throwing knives at a Kankrolot. William apeared in front of the group and cut through the front side of a Blok. A Kankrolot shot him in the ankle. Yumi threw a fan through it. Alex shot the rest of the Hornets out of the air. Crystal jumped out as Alex passed a Blok and stabbed it in the eye. Yumi flew by Crystal and she jumped on the OverWing with her. Peter pulled his bow up, twisted it apart, and stabbed through two bloks before twisting it back together and putting it on his back. Aelita twirled in air to dodge shots from a group of Kankrolots. Alex shot two of the ones that were shooting at her. William supersmoked into the middle of them and spun his sword around to take the rest out.

**[The Bridge]**

Ulrich spun around to kick the legs out from under Ms. Hertz after chasing her through the sewers. She landed on her hands and spun around to kick Ulrich in the side of the head. He layed on the ground, one hand holding him up, the other holding his head. He pulled his hand back to reveal a little bit of blood. It wasn't fatal, but it did hurt. Odd ran at her and kicked her in the chest. She landed on her hands, again, but this time Odd kicked her in the head as she tried to flip over. Odd stood on her hands. She attempted to charge up her hands with electricity, but Odd's rubber soled shoes protected him. She flipped her legs up and kicked him in the back, knocking him to the ground. She ran towards the factory and jumped over Odd. They ran after her again. Ulrich answered his phone at the ropes.

"Hey Jeremie... No, we aren't in the elevator, why?" Jeremie started to explain why, but it went unheard by Ulrich. The elevator exploded as Ms. Hertz approached it, sending her flying back. Odd took the phone from Ulrich.

"Why didn't you wait until she was in the elevator?!" Odd asked as she started to rub her head, preparing to stand up again.

"Because, we can't kill the person XANA is controlling. If we do, they won't come back during the return to the past. Besides, it was supposed to be a delay," Jeremie said on the other side of the line. Odd handed Ulrich back his phone and slid down after her.

**[Lyoko]**

A Blok shot the OverBike out from under Peter. He pulled his bow off of his back and shot the Blok. He landed, twisted his bow apart, and cut two Kankrolots in half. Alex drove by and Peter put his bow on his back and grabbed on. Yumi threw her fan at the Bloks. It spun around the tower and hit two more.

**[The Factory]**

Odd and Ulrich chased Ms. Hertz. She flipped on the ground and threw a piece of pipe at their legs, tripping them and sending them to the ground.

"What do you think she's after?" Ulrich asked. "Jeremie or the supercomputer?"

"Well," Odd said getting up. "The way I see it, if she gets Jeremie, she can attack the supercompuer without any problem."

"Then let's not let her take out Jeremie," Ulrich said running. Ms. Hertz climbed reached the ladder. She climbed down a little ways and switched to the walls. Ulrich hopped down and ran to Jeremie. Odd climbed down. As Ms. Hertz jumped at Jeremie, Odd dove on her, midair. Ulrich held down her elbows and Odd held her wrists.

**[Lyoko]**

William spun around with his sword, cutting several Bloks in two. Alex drifted around the tower and stepped out. Peter pulled out his bow and Alex lengthened his staff. They both began to block the tower. Aelita dove, increasing her speed dramatically. She landed in front of the tower, her wings disappearing, and walked inside.

**[The Lab]**

Ms. Hertz kicked Odd, knocking off Ulrich, too. She stood and ran at Jeremie.

"Return to the past, now!" he yelled when she had grabbed him.

**(Alex first person)**

We were back in the dorm.

"I like them," Aelita said. "The wings. They're nice. Thanks Jeremie."

"You're welcome Aelita," he said starting to rub his neck where Ms. Hertz hand hand been seconds ago, or almost an hour from now. "And thank you for deactivating that tower. I hadn't wanted to end up like Crystal in the hands of XANA."

"It's time for breakfast, again," Odd said jumping up. We walked down to the cafeteria and ate breakfast for the second time that day, then walked to chemistry reluctantly.


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

**(Alex first person)**

We were in the dorm a few days later after class working on processing the data.

"Done yet?" Odd asked for about the thousandth time, most likely in attempt to get on our nerves. It worked.

"No, Odd," Jeremie said getting frustrated and annoyed. "As a matter of fact, the more you ask that, the longer it will take. So if you please, shut up." Ulrich, Peter, Yumi, and William attempted to hold back a grin and laugh. For Peter and Yumi, it worked. Ulrich and William proceeded to laugh. "Crystal," Jeremie said in a still annoyed tone, but wasn't going to sound frustrated towards Crystal. "Have you confirmed the digital signature of the last Replika?"

"Yes, Jeremie," she responded.

"Alex, did you find a physical-to-digital electromagnetic disturbance?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "From the same digital signature as the Replika."

"Aelita, try to crack it."

"Already on it," she said in a soothing tone to attempt to ease Jeremie's nerves. It also worked.

"Thank you, Aelita," he said calmly. Everyone watched the screens to see the encrypted digital signature of the Replika's supercomputer become slowly decrypted. The screen paused for a second then turned black.

"Done yet?" Odd asked with a short grin.

"Ugh!" Jeremie let out in a burst of frustration. "Everything going wrong today," he muttered getting out of his chair and moving to see the back of the computer. Everyone looked at Odd who was obviously the root of Jeremie's frustration.

"What did I do?" Odd said either showing no general knowledge of his obnoxiousness, or trying to get on everyone's nerves even more. Jeremie's computer came on for a second. Everyone jumped to their feet to see the eye of XANA on his monitor before Jeremie was slapped high against the wall. He slid down onto his bed and adjusted his glasses, showing a large crack in the spot on the wall where he had hit. The computer turned horizontal, the monitor moved on top of it, and the wires sprung out of the wall and the inside of the computer in order to hold it up. It slid off of the table. It coiled some of the wires and prepared to spring at Jeremie again. I jumped in front of him as they swung by and grabbed the wires. Jeremie jumped off of his bed and ran out the door. I pulled the computer towards me, then pushed it backwards by the monitor. It only stumbled back a little bit. I followed the others out the door and down the halls. The computer bounded out of the door behind us, leaving a large dent in the wall. It chased off after us. I ran ahead of the group to push the door out of their way. As the last person escaped, I closed the door behind them in a temporary obstruction. The computer shot its wires out as I turned and wrapped around me, holding me to the door. Everyone turned back to see me for a second.

"I got him!" William said coming back as the others continued. He pulled out a small pocket knife, flipped it open, and cut through the wires binding me to the door. The computer screeched behind us as I untangled the wires from my body. We ran towards the manhole particularly fast as the computer obliterated the door by bashing through it. William climbed in first when we arrived, followed closely by me. When I reached the bottom I looked up to see the cover thrown off. The computer attempted to climb in, but its size made it look like it were trying to sit down on the sewer access. After it had figured out that it could, in no way, enter the hole, it dashed off to the entrance of the school. I ran and grabbed my skateboard and William and I rode off. I pulled out my phone.

"Jeremie," I said. "It can't fit into the sewers. It had to go through town."

"XANA making a supernatural public appearance?" Jeremie responded. I heard the sound of the cover at the bridge being opened meaning that they weren't far away. "He must be getting desperate... At least it will buy us some time..."

"What do you think he's after?" I asked.

"At first I though he was just trying to get rid of the data," Jeremie said. "But XANA destroying my computer wouldn't help anything since we could just use a return to the past and get it back."

"So, the usual?" I responded beginning to climb the ladder. "You and the supercomputer?"

"I guess so," he responded. I heard the elevator door open. I put my phone away.

"Hold the elevator!" I yelled to Jeremie as William and I crossed the bridge. We both slid down the ropes and climbed into the elevator. Jeremie and I got out in the control room.

"No," Jeremie said simply to me. "The more people on Lyoko the better. Besides, it shouldn't be able to climb the ladder, so shutting off the elevator should suffice. You stay with them." I gave him a single nod and stepped back into the elevator.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd fell into the mountain sector, followed by Alex, Crystal, and Aelita, then William and Peter. Each of the Overvehicles spawned next to their drivers. Peter put his bow on his back and jumped on the back of the OverCar as Alex and Crystal stepped inside. Aelita swiped her hand over her wrist and her wings appeared on her back. She flapped them a few times before flying into the air.

"The tower is west," Jeremie said. Everyone drove off in the indicated direction, except William who ran as far as he could before jumping into the air and supersmoking.

"What's going on up there, Jeremie?" Peter asked.

**[The Factory]**

Jeremie's computer crossed the bridge. It's wires reached down to hold itself up to the ground below instead of fall. It reached the elevator shaft. The elevator had been taken down to the botom floor to keep the computer at bay. Wires sprung from out of the computer and into the console on the wall. Electricity flowed from it and the elevator sprung to life, climbing the shaft again.

**[The Lab]**

Jeremie tried his hardest to stop the elevator.

"Not too good," he said typing furiously at the keyboard. The elevator stopped for a short moment before climbing up the shaft again. Jeremie activated the object materialization program and started to climb down the ladder into the scanner room.

**[Lyoko]**

The area of the tower was a large, flat area with several rocks lying around. A wall was around the perimeter of the circular platform. The path was a thin bridge with a hole as the path split in a circle around it. There were several Tarantulas, Krabs, and a single Megatank. The group rode down the path, splitting into twos as they went around. The Megatank rode out towards them as they grouped up on the bridge. Alex pulled of the edge, shifting gears into flight-mode. Ulrich jumped off his OverBike and stabbed his swords into the side of the landscape. Yumi and Odd flew upside down around it. Peter fell off the back of the OverCar as it caught in flight gear. He pulled his bow off his back and quickly untwisted it and dug the two scimitars into the edge of the landscape. He quickly camouflaged to blend into the side to not be noticed. Odd pulled a U-turn and stopped to see the Megatank. It stopped inches from the hole in the ground, opened up, and shot at Odd. He pulled over, barely dodging the beam. He shot four laser arrows at the eye, but it closed before making contact. Ulrich pulled himself up and crossed over the bridge, feeling the edge for Peter. The Megatank began to roll again. Ulrich grabbed the edge with one hand and flipped over to grab the side. Alex drove back onto the bridge, aiming his staff out the window at the Megatank, waiting for it to open. Instead, the Megatank pulled to a halt and charged back down the ramp. Alex flew back off the edge.

"Why isn't Peter changing?" Ulrich yelled at the group as they flew around to attack the Megatank.

"We changed his program," Alex yelled back flipping upside down around the bridge. "He doesn't have a limit to how long he can use it anymore, but he still has to be still and there is still a thirty second cooldown after he stops using it." The Megatank stopped, again, inches from the edge of the hole. Odd charged at it, twisted slightly as he closed it, and dove at it, knocking it into the hole just as it began to open. Odd peered over the edge as it fell. It shot a wave up just as it closed in onto the digital sea. Odd flinched, preparing for devirtualization, but the ray was destroyed along with the Megatank as it made contact. Odd's OverBoard drifted around and came back to him. He jumped on to it as it zoomed past him. Ulrich pulled himself up and ran along the edge. Peter appeared and grabbed Ulrich's hand. He pulled his two scimitars out of the landscape, twisted them into his bow, and put it on his back. They all charged at the tower where Aelita and William had been taking on the monsters.

**[The Lab]**

Jeremie walked over to the scanner holding his creation inside. He picked it up. It felt awkward in his hand. He had never held one in his hands before. Above him he heard his computer scream, meaning it had realized he was no longer in the control room. He jerked nervously around to face the elevator. He heard the elevator start to move again. He put his finger on the trigger and aimed his pistol at the elevator access. The elevator door opened and Jeremie's computer screeched. Jeremie fired wildly, hitting both the monitor and the computer, but it continued on as if controlled by puppet master. It reared back its wires and hit Jeremie against the wall. Jeremie regained from his confusion and fired at the computer again. It slapped the gun out of his hands. It reared back its wires again, now pulsing with electricity and revealing its sharp tips.

**[Lyoko]**

Alex accelerated as fast as he could at the monsters. Crystal jumped out onto a Tarantula. Alex, however, did not slow down. He hit Aelita on his hood, still linear with the tower. Aelita put her hand out in front, preparing to enter the tower. Alex hit the tower, since only Aelita was able to enter the activated ones. Aelita was thrown inside and Alex was tossed out, flipping, and hit the tower with his back. Aelita landed roughly in the center of the tower.

**[The Lab]**

Jeremie's computer thrusted its wires into Jeremie's gut. Jeremie let out a piercing shriek as the electricity flowed into his body. The computer leaned closer until various pieces of broken glass from the monitor's shots were grazing Jeremie's cheek, him still screaming.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita floated to the top of the tower. She landed gracefully on the top platform. She stuck out her hand as the console appeared. 'CODE' the console read before the word 'LYOKO' appeared below it. She turned around and swiped her hand in the air.

"Return to the past, now," she said.

**(Alex first person)**

"You did what?" Odd asked Jeremie back in the dorm.

"Odd, why is it so suprising that Jeremie shot his computer?" Ulrich asked.

"I believe he did it," Peter added.

"Because Jeremie is like the person I would least expect to shoot a gun," Odd said still surprised.

"I don't know why," I asked. Jeremie turned around to his computer and turned it on, ending the conversation. As the data came on the screen, a wide grin spread Odd's face.

"Done yet?"


	39. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

**AN: This chapter is product of magmon1000 and myself. Under much discussion, here I present you.**  
**To Olyrik: In my next story, The Story of Alex: XANA reborn, there will be new monsters, but in this story, it would effect the plot too much.**  
**To jackotrop: I will do my best to strengthen the romantic plots.**  
**Remember to review and PM me for ideas for attacks.**

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

"Find out what the attack is yet, Jeremie?" Odd asked jumping off his OverBoard, sending it flying into the gut of a Tarantula and off the edge of the ice sector. "You woke us up at four in the morning, this one better be good."

"Not yet, but I'd rather not have to find out," Jeremie responded. "Just hurry up and get Aelita into the tower." Alex shot behind him as he ran to Aelita's side. He ran with her as the others attacked viciously. A Megatank rolled down the path to the tower, monsters leaving its path, after Alex and Aelita. They both ran faster as it gained on them. Alex pushed Aelita into the tower. Before he could teleport, he was crushed against the wall where Aelita had been moments before, being devirtualized. Aelita floated to the top platform.

**[The Lab]**

"Jeremie!" Alex yelled up to the floor above him grabbing his face.

**(Alex first person)**

We were all sitting in the control room after Aelita had deactivated the tower.

"I can't see," I repeated.

"At all?" Yumi asked.

"Well, I can still use my long distance seeing and teleportation, but I can't see at all out of my eyes," I answered.

"Is there anything we can do, Jeremie?" Crystal asked sitting beside me and holding my hand.

"I think so," he responded unsure. "I picked up a network response as Aelita deactivated the tower. I think it might have been XANA sending a data pack. I have the port number."

"Do you think he can see on Lyoko?" Peter asked.

"We won't be able to find out," Jeremie said. "He was devirtualized by XANA, remember? He can't go back for twelve hours."

"Well, let's go," Odd said walking to the elevator door and pushing the button. Crystal let go of my hand.

"We'll be back before you know it," she told me before kissing me lightly on the cheek and walking into the elevator with the others. I meditated and watched Jeremie work on at the computer.

**(Third person omniscient)**

Peter fell into the group in the Arena of Carthage. Everyone immediately set off for the elevator.

"Ever think about what it's like to be blind," Crystal asked, obviously concerned, as she leaned against the circles on the side of the elevator, staring into the air. Aelita's face showed understanding mixed with a bit of pity.

"We'll help him," she said putting a hand on Crystal's shoulder. "It's just part of the attack. We'll get the data back." The elevator reached the top floor and everyone departed the elevator and stepped onto the seven rings.

"Energizing," Jeremie said and, with that, they were inside the ship, Peter taking Alex's spot.

"What do I do?" Peter asked, eager now that he was behind the controls to the ship.

"Umm..." Aelita said looking for something he could do.

"Just sit there and look pretty," Peter heard from Odd's ship. Odd was grinning below. Peter's face changed to disappointment, but not anger. Crystal released the docks and Aelita flew them out of Carthage. They dove into the digital sea and out the port into the network. Aelita piloted the Skid next to the swirling network access.

"Diving," Aelita said approaching the middle of it and straightening the Skid. It disappeared into the digital swirls and came out, horizontal again, at another section of the network. Aelita piloted to the sphere and straightened up. A beam shot out of the center of the Skid and into the port of the Replika.

"This password is longer than the last one," Jeremie said. "And encrypted."

"We'll try to help," Crystal said. A new window opened on Crystal and Aelita's panel and they instantly began working. The digital sea turned red. Two Sharks flew at the Skid, shooting once each.

"Releasing Nav-Skids," Aelita said, moving one hand to release each Nav-Skids, but keeping the other on the panel to help with the password. Each of the four Nav-Skids were released and Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and William drove away after the Sharks. Ulrich locked on to on of the enemies.

"I've got you now," he said. He shot a torpedo at them. A group of four Krongers flew in between the Nav-Skids and the Sharks, intercepting the torpedo at the expense of one of them. Odd and William pulled left to follow the path of the Krongers. Ulrich released another shot at the Sharks, hitting one. The Shark stopped suddenly, and Ulrich and Yumi passed it. The Shark shot the back of Ulrich's Nav-Skid. Ulrich slowed down, but so did the Shark. It shot again, but Ulrich sped up to avoid the shot.

"We're going to have to split up," Ulrich said.

"Roger that," Yumi said pulling tightly around a left turn. Ulrich remained dodging the lasers from the remaining Shark. One of the lasers hit him in the back again. At that exact moment, Yumi shot a torpedo, hitting the shark in the face from its left side. Yumi and Ulrich regrouped.

Odd had just shot down the second of the Krongers. William twisted around Odd and shot another.

"Two for me, Odd," William taunted from the game they were playing. "Better catch up." Odd shot a torpedo at the remaining Kronger. William shot two carefully aimed torpedos, one at the Kronger, and one at Odd's torpedo, destroying both.

"Hey!" Odd called at William. "You cheated!"

"All's far in love and war, and this is war," William laughed. "Heading back to the Skid." They each pulled around and went back for the ship.

At the Skid, two Sharks flew by, shooting twice, but only hitting once.

"Get the turret, Peter," Crystal said without taking her eyes off of the panel. She reached over and pressed a button on his console, moving his seat backwards a bit and pulling up the window of the turret and the joystick. Peter shot one of the Sharks as they flew away, but missed the other. It flew back around, aiming at the Skid. It shot once. Peter shot twice, intercepting the laser and hitting the Shark. The digital sea turned its blue color. Each of the four others took their spaces on the Skid.

"Code cracked," Jeremie said. "Access granted." The port opened and Aelita piloted the Skid inside. The Skid floated out of the digital sea and docked onto a tower. Everyone was transported out into a Replika of a forest sector.

"I shot the turret!" Peter exclaimed.

"Well then, you're already more useful than Alex," Odd laughed. Crystal walked over to him, grabbed his head, and slit his neck with her right handed knife, devirtualizing him. Crystal looked around at everyone else. They all looked back blankly. They were definately not going to try to argue with her. Especially when she was angry. She could easily taken any of them on on a bad day. The only one of them who could possibly stop her was Aelita,but only because of her one-hit devirtualization, and she agreed with Crystal.

"What are we waiting for?" Crystal asked rhetorically. Everyone followed Aelita to the tower where she went inside. Peter pushed down his snipe glass and scanned the edge. Ulrich drew both swords. Yumi grabbed both fans. William rested his broad sword on his shoulder. Crystal, however, sat down on a rock and observed her knife as if it were some foreign object, obviously thinking. Thinking about how fast she would like this mission to be finished. Peter noticed her and walked over to her.

"Why didn't you stay with him?" he asked.

"He would want me to be here," she said still staring at her knife.

"Do you mean you want to be here?"

"What do you mean?"

"You want to be here. To help us protect the data and help him."

"Of course I do. I don't like him being like this. I'm worried..."

"Jeremie and Aelita know what they're doing," he said reassuringly. "They'll help him."

At these words, a laser hit Yumi in the side of her right thigh. Peter looked up and shot at the Blok that had shot it. Crystal jumped to her feet, now clutching both knives. A row of Krabs and Bloks were now visible to everyone. Yumi threw her fans at them, knocking the front-left leg out from under a Krab, after which fell off into the digital sea. William supersmoked at them. He appeared, cut through a Blok, deflected a laser from a Krab back at it, and supersmoked back to the group. Crystal deflected two lasers then threw a throwing knife at a Krab. Ulrich ran at them, spinning in a circle to cut two Bloks in half. Peter shot again, hitting the skulls of two rock Crystal was sitting on moments ago was hurdled at the rows of monsters by Yumi's telekinesis. William supersmoked again and solidified to kick a Blok in the eye and off of the cliff. Ulrich deflected shots with one hand and stabbed a Krab with the other. Peter ran at the hoard, untwisted his bow, and jumped over a Blok, cutting it vertically. Yumi did several backwards handsprings. She jumped into the air to throw her fan, but was shot in the face by a Blok and devirtualized. William swung his sword down on the head of a Krab, but as he was picking up his sword again, he was shot in the back. Crystal looked around as the others fought. There was a gray cloud of smoke coming from the other path. Crystal ran for the tower. Dark William solidified and reached his hand for the tower. Crystal tackled him, arms around waist, onto the ground, knocking his sword out of his hands. As he was dazed, Crystal dug her knees into his wrists. She pulled up her hands, both filled with knives, as if to stab him in the face. Instead, she stabbed both into the ground beside him. Then, she punched him in the face with her right hand, then her left, over and over until she was sobbing and, if it were possible on Lyoko, crying. She knew very well why she was doing it. She had to release some anger built up from XANA, after all he had done. Aelita walked over to her and put her hand on Crystal's shoulder, who was still sobbing but was no longer punching Dark William.

"It's okay," Aelita said soothingly. "I've got the data."

"He... took... our lives... from us..." Crystal said in between tearless sobs. With Dark William still dazed, Aelita put her hand on Dark William's face and charged it with an energy field to devirtualize him.

"Come on," William said as the group walked over after destroying the remainder of the monsters. Aelita helped Crystal to her feet and everyone walked to the Skid.

**(Alex first person)**

"Why did you devirtualize Odd?" I asked Crystal with a grin as the group arrived at the top of the elevator. She ran over and put her hand in mine. Across the room, Odd was sitting with annoyed look on his face.

"It's nothing," she said. I could hear her saying the words past a grin.

"The data is downloaded," Jeremie said. "Crystal, help him to the scanner." He didn't have to say that, though. Crystal had started to help me to my feet when he said 'downloaded'. She walked me into the elevator and hit the button. With her left hand in my left hand and her right arm around my back, she slowly walked me to into the scanner. Before it closed, she kissed me on the cheek.

The scanner opened back up and I looked into the eyes of the woman who helped me walk.

"I can see," I said. She smiled at the reference of the first day I met her in person.


	40. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

**AN: To Olyrik: I will try to add the secondary characters into the story. Also, thank you for your continuous reviewing. Each review gives me more reason to write each chapter.  
Remember to review.**

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie and I were lying down in our dorm. There was a knock at the door. Jeremie and I both sat up.

"It's probably Aelita," Jeremie said putting on his glasses. I stood up and opened the door.

"Hi Alex," Peter said.

"Hey," I responded. "Can't sleep?"

"Nah," he said shrugging. He walked inside. "I don't sleep much anyways. William is always screaming or talking to people in his dreams." I looked over at Jeremie.

"That bad, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah..."

"Aelita was there, once," Jeremie said looking at one spot of the room that was neither Peter nor me. I sat back down on my bed. Peter took Jeremie's computer chair.

"Is there anything we can do?" Peter asked.

"Not much," Jeremie said. "He's linked to XANA. We actually have to find where XANA's keeping his fragment, and that is gonna take a while."

"How do we find it?"

"Well," Jeremie said rubbing under his eyes. "We can either search manually for it, or set up a scan, but seeing as how we don't actually know what part has been taken from William, we can't scan for it."

"Listen, Peter," I said. "I'm getting pretty tired and we have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Oh, okay, I understand." He stood and walked out.

We woke up that morning. It was Saturday. Jeremie put his glasses on as Aelita and Crystal walked in with their laptops.

"We almost have it finished," Jeremie said as William and Peter walked in behind them.

"What finished?" William asked.

"I call it teleporting," Jeremie said as Ulrich and Odd walked in.

"Call what teleporting?" Odd asked.

"The way we are going to be destroying the computer's holding the Replikas," Jeremie said as Yumi walked in.

"Cool!" she said. "What do you call it?"

"Teleporting." Jeremie said blankly. Crystal, Aelita, and I hooked our laptops to Jeremie's computer.

"Alex, have you cross-checked the electromagnetic pulses of the first computer with the ones of the second?" Jeremie asked when we had started.

"Yes, Jeremie, both are the same." I said.

"Crystal, hack them."

"Got it."

"What does it matter if they're not the same?" William asked.

"We would have to change the code every time to the correct one," Jeremie said.

"Aelita, initiate the avatar physical transfer," Jeremie said after about five minutes of hacking. The main window slid over to see Aelita's avatar. It filled with color then turned a shade of blue. It slid over again to reveal a green exclamation mark.

"It works," I said packing up my laptop. We walked down the hall and out the door. Ulrich slid the manhole lid over and we all climbed down. We grabbed our skateboards and scooters and rode down the sewers to the ladder. I climbed up first. When we were all on the bridge, we all took off for the factory. We slid down our ropes and walked into the elevator. Jeremie led us out of the elevator and into the control room. He opened the program.

"The program is initialized," he said. "Head on down to the scanners."

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

William spawned above the group in the center of Carthage. They all ran out of the Arena and into the small corridor and stepped onto the elevator which sprung into life and moved up. It stopped when it reached the dock. Everyone stepped out on the platform and turned to see Dark William standing on the energy rings. Aelita was the first to attack, pulling up her arm up and shooting an energy field up at him which was easily blocked. Ulrich pulled out both swords and charged, swinging down his blades and pinning his sword to the ground. Yumi threw a fan at Dark William's neck. Dark William caught the fan with one hand and tossed it to the ground. William charged Dark William and swung his sword for his head. Dark William ducked and William's blade went straight for Ulrich's head. Ulrich picked up one sword and barely blocked it. Dark William freed his sword and kicked Ulrich down. Odd shot for Dark William's chest. He supersmoked behind Aelita, put his hand around her head, and put his sword to her neck. Alex pointed his staff at Dark William's forehead and mentally created the laser tip at the end.

"Uh-uh," Dark William said in a scratchy voice shaking his head. "Not this one. This one's for XANA!" Alex teleported and instantaneously hit Dark William in the back with his stun tip. Dark William twitched violently, growling in pain, and let go of Aelita. Crystal ran over and stabbed her knife into his head, devitualizing him. Everyone ran to the energy rings as the elevator came up with the Scythozoa. Everyone was transported inside. Alex released the dock and Aelita piloted out and into the digital sea. The Skid came out in the network.

"I've never used the stun on an avatar," Alex said. He shuttered.

"Are you worried he was hurt?" Odd asked.

"No, it's just that it was a bit violent is all," Alex replied.

"I thought you were made to kill," William said from his pod.

"Kill monsters, not avatars," Alex told him. "I mean I always could devirtualize the others, but I never used my stun." Aelita rubbed the part of her neck where Dark William had been grabbing moments ago.

"I knew he would be going after you guys," Aelita said, "but I never expected him to try to take me with him."

"If he can take you, he gets rid of our ability to deactivate the towers," Jeremie said.

"Either way," Alex said, "we keep protecting Aelita as usual."

"Hey! What about the rest of us!" Odd yelled through the communication.

"We can fend for ourselves, Odd," Ulrich said. "Aelita needs protection from us. Not the other way around." Aelita piloted through the network port.

"You're heading for the first Replika we discovered," Jeremie said. Aelita piloted next to the access port. The beam shot out of the center of the main deck and within a few seconds, the port opened up and Aelita piloted inside. They came out in the familiar desert sector of before. Aelita piloted next to a tower and docked it.

"Okay," Jeremie said, "two people are going to have to be teleported to the computer, and the rest are going to have to guard the tower."

"Let Aelita go," Yumi said.

"If Aelita goes, I go," Alex said. Everyone but Alex and Aelita were transported to the outside of the Skid where Peter had just been virtualized. Rings formed around Alex and Aelita and they disappeared from Lyoko.

**[Abandoned military base, Eastern Asia]**

"Where are you?" Jeremie asked.

"A dense forest," Aelita said, "but I think I see a building over there." Alex fell to the ground. He put his hands on the ties of his blindfold and untied it. After it was loose, he went to pull it off. Aelita stared at him. The blindfold stuck to around his eye sockets, as if sown to them.

"Jeremie, I can't see, bring be back," Alex said tying the blindfold again. Rings appeared around him and he disappeared from the real world.

**[Lyoko]**

Everyone was leaned against, or sitting on a rock when Alex appeared back on Lyoko.

"Pick your victim," Jeremie said as everyone looked at Alex. Odd was bouncing. Alex walked over to Peter.

"Keep her safe," Alex said. He patted him on the shoulder once and was teleported out of Lyoko.

**[Abandoned military base, Eastern Asia]**

Peter appeared in the forest beside Aelita whom was leaning against a tree.

"Sent you, did he?"Aelita said. She stood up and walked next to him. "Must trust you a lot to choose you." She pointed at the building. Peter pulled up his bow and walked ahead of her towards the objective. They reached a door which was chained to the wall. Peter twisted his bow apart and cut the the chain. He pushed the door open with one hand and allowed Aelita inside. They were in a dark corridor with lights dull lights every ten or fifteen feet. Peter put his bow back together reluctantly. They both walked down the hall. They leaned against the wall at the corner. Peter jumped out and aimed to make sure nothing was coming.

"Jeremie, what exactly are we looking for?" Peter asked reaching another corner and checking carefully.

"A computer. It can look like anything," Jeremie said, "I'm trying to download a holomap." They came to a door. Peter stood infront of it, aiming his bow at it. Aelita flipped a switch, opening the door. They walked inside. There were several suspended bubble-like sacks hanging from the ceiling.

"What are they?" Aelita asked.

"I'm not sure," Peter answered gazing at them. They both circled the room. Peter approached one.

"Jeremie, how's the holomap?" Aelita asked.

"Still downloading," Jeremie responded.

"How is he downloading a map of this place?" Peter asked absent-mindedly. "Did someone put a map on the internet?"

"No," Aelita said also absent-mindedly. "He is scanning it with the connection to the computer here." Peter grazed one of the sacks with his bow. It jiggled and bounced.

"Hey, Aelita, look at this," he said. She walked over next to him. He poked it with the tip of his bow. Instead of jiggling like before, it busted, dropping a mechanical spider to the floor. It looked at Peter for a fraction of a second before shrieking loudly. All of the other sacks busted open, dropping at least twenty of them to the floor. They all shrieked as the first. The first one jumped on Peter. It reared one of its legs back to stab through his face, but Aelita shot an energy field at it. Peter pushed Aelita in front of him out the door, turned around, then stabbed the console of the door, shutting and locking it. Peter breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Aelita whom looked back with the similar relief. The door pounded making both of them jump and look at it. It pounded again, this time leaving a huge dent in it.

"Jeremie, how's that holomap coming along?" Peter asked drawing his bow.

"Got it," he said. "Go left." Peter slowly released his bow, then pushed Aelita in front of him along the corridor. As they turned right at the end of the hallway, Peter glanced back to see the lead spider knock a hole through the door and let out another screech. They ran following Jeremie's directions through the halls.

**[Lyoko]**

"What exactly are we doing here, Einstein?" Odd asked.

"Protecting the tower," Jeremie said.

"From what?!" Odd asked jumping up and motioning around. "There's nothing here!"

"Odd, Jeremie has other things to worry about," Alex said.

"What's more important than my amusement?" Odd asked half jokingly.

"Aelita."

**[Abandoned military base, Eastern Asia]**

"Get in here," Peter said pushing the console next to a door and checking that it was empty of the spider-sacks. She hurried inside and crouched behind a desk. Peter shut the door from the other side and walked over to the wall. He drew his bow, aiming at the door, and camouflaged. The spiderbots came around the corner. Six of them began beating their heads and claws against the door. The ones that couldn't reach cheered on with their shrieks. The door crashed open. Aelita hit the front one with an energy field. Peter appeared and shot through the lines, hitting several with one shot. The majority turned on him. He split his bow apart and caught one's head between the scimitars.

"What are you two doing?" Jeremie asked. "I didn't say take a detour!"

"We had to shake a few off," Peter said cutting the head of the one captured off. Aelita shot another two spiders with exceptionally powerful blasts, sending them into others and against the wall. One of the spiders jumped into the air. Peter sliced both scimitars swiftly, cutting it against the wall. He stabbed down at one through the head on through its neck. Aelita ran at the door. She charged both energy fields. Just as the group roared to change targets, Aelita pushed an energy wave. Peter barely dodged it, but the spiderbots weren't as lucky. Each one of them became no more than fried metal and singed wires. Peter let out another sigh of relief and smiled at Aelita again.

"Now, Jeremie, where's that computer?" Peter asked.

"Down the hall, then take the left hallway," Jeremie said.

"Got it." As Peter and Aelita turned around to go in Jeremie's directions, two doors opened behind them, each filled with the spiderbots. "Run!" Peter yelled pushing Aelita in front of him. They filled the halls and, when no more could fit, filled the walls and ceiling. Peter turned and fired an arrow which swooped through the hoard and hit at least a dozen of them. They turned left at the end of the hall, each of them turning periodically to shoot the spiderbots.

**[Lyoko]**

"Alright, Yumi, your turn," Ulrich challenged. They had been spending the time by fighting each other and having Crystal heal them after.

**[Abandoned military base, Eastern Asia]**

They reached the console of the door.

"The computer is in there," Jeremie said. Peter turned and shot several times at the hoard.

"It's got a passcode," Aelita said entering keys on the panel.

"Could you hurry up, then?" Peter asked batting a spiderbot backwards.

"I can try, but from the looks of it, the lock is holding the door shut, not holding it in its neutral position," Aelita said.

"Then move!" Peter yelled. He slammed down on the console with his bow, disabling the system and releasing the lock. Peter pushed Aelita inside then turned and hit another spiderbot in the face. Aelita closed the door from the inside panel.

The supercomputer was a very large, spherical console in the middle of the room.

"What do we do, Jeremie?" Peter asked.

"Just destroy it," he said. Peter twisted his bow apart and stuck both blades in the top. The computer surged and each of the mechanical spiders dropped. Peter and Aelita disappeared from the base.

**(Alex first person)**

"How was it?" Ulrich asked.

"Weird," Peter answered with a grin.

"Why couldn't Alex see?" Aelita asked.

"I can only see code," I answered. "Lyoko has code, the Replikas have code, but the real world doesn't."

"Well, that's one down," Jeremie said.


	41. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

**AN: Sorry for the delay. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it, though.**  
**To Olyrik: I can't do other Dark characters. The only reason XANA can make a Dark William is because of the data he stole from the real William. When I get to the equivalent of season 5, there will still be a Dark William, simply because XANA still has the data (even if he no longer has the fragment).**

**(Alex first person)**

It was Monday morning. We sat in the dorm before breakfast.

"So, what are we doing today?" William asked.

"Well, we have gym class, then we plan on attacking another Replika," Jeremie said.

"Ooh ooh," Odd said thrusting his hand into the air. "Can I go this time?"

"Yes, but we're going to need someone on the inside who knows how to work computers. This time, it's a requirement," Jeremie said.

"Why?" Ulrich asked.

"We're planning on trying to get data from the computer. It might help with the virus or William's fragment," I said.

"Well, let Crystal go," Aelita said. "She's the only person who can use it, other than me or Alex, and Alex can't go."

"It's time for breakfast," Peter said. We stood and walked out of the dorm.

"What was with those spiders?" Aelita asked as we walked. "Do you think that's what the military was working on when it was abandoned?"

"I highly doubt they would have left a project like that just out in the open," I said.

"You don't think XANA could have been making them, do you?" Yumi asked.

"It's possible," Jeremie said. "He had control of the entire building. He's done it with the assembly line at the factory before. Why couldn't he have done it there?" We walked into the cafeteria and sat down with our breakfast.

"Where's this one at?" Odd asked.

"Somewhere in Argentina," Jeremie said. "Or Bolivia. Or Paraguay."

"That's really specific," Odd said sarcastically.

"I've told you before, the scan isn't specific. It's either in north Argentina or south Bolivia or Paraguay."

"Do you think it will have robots?" Peter asked.

"It's likely," Jeremie said.

"But these could be different," Aelita added. We finished our meal and walked to our classes. Everyone except Yumi and William walked outside. There were various poles of different heights. We all sat down on the stands.

"Today, we will be doing a high jump," Jim said when class started. "Now, I know what you're thinking, 'Jim, when are we ever going to use this in life?' or 'Jim, what does this have to do with our future?' or 'Jim, why are you asking so many rhetorical questions?'. The answer is simple. Err... What was the first question... Never mind that, now. Allard! You're up!" David Allard ran at the first pole and jumped, his right foot catching and him tripping to the ground.

"Good try anyways," Jim said writing down on his clipboard. "Next!"

Everyone went through alphabetically, some tripping on the first, others tripping on higher ones, Ulrich being the only person to jump over all of them before me.

"Very good, class," Jim said after everyone had finished, "once again you allowed Alex here to show you up! You're excused." Everyone left the field and headed for the dorms.

"I jumped the highest pole, too," Ulrich said.

"Ignore it," Jeremie told him when we reached the doors of the dorm hallways. "Jumping over poles isn't important in any career."

"You're just mad because you tripped the first pole," Odd said with a grin.

"Irrelevant," Jeremie said plainly. "We have more pressing matters than jumping poles. We're going back to the Replika XANA sent Alex's data was sent to the other day."

"Good," Crystal said. "I get to destroy it." Odd opened his mouth as if to reject, but was silenced by something he didn't seem to want to start.

"Let's go, guys," Jeremie said picking up his bag and walking out the door. As Jeremie turned to lock the door, Sissy and her group appeared from behind us.

"Where ya goin'?" she asked.

"No, Sissy, you're not invited," Ulrich said dully.

"A party?" she asked with a grin.

"I didn't say that."

"No, Ulrich, it's fine," I said. "They can come." The others looked at me oddly. "You guys go ahead and _prepare_. I'll show them where the _party_ is." I looked at Jeremie and he immediately understood.

"Come on, guys," Jeremie said, "we have to prepare." They walked down the hall, a few of them turning back in question.

"Come on, guys," I said walking the other way. "You're going to have to keep up. I'm not one to slow down for others."

"We can keep up," Sissy said. I walked down the hall at a faster pace than I would normally. We reached outside. I looked at my watch.

"Dang it, I should have already been here," I said. "Hurry." I ran a bit faster than them, but they still held to my trail.

"Where… are… the others… going?" Sissy asked in between pants.

"To get supplies, of course."

"Then why are we running?" Herb asked.

"I have to reserve the spot. Can't just leave it open like that, can we?" We reached the gate and turned left.

"So… where's… the party?"

"Just up ahead," I said pointing. "Oh! We have to cross here." I crossed the road, barely missing a car and causing Sissy, Nicholas, and Herb to get farther behind me. "Hurry!" I ran much faster than I had before, losing them by even greater distance. I pulled right and hid in the closest alleyway and teleported to the lab.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[The Lab]**

"How's the party?" Jeremie asked without turning in his chair.

"Left her in town," Alex told him. "Probably thinks she made a wrong turn or something."

"They're already in the network. I'll send you when they dock.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita piloted through the swirling port.

"Alex just arrived," Jeremie said. "He'll be ready when you dock."

"It's about ti-" Odd said, but was silenced again. He didn't want to be devirtualized again, especially with his chance to go to the Replika.

"Entering the access code," Crystal said.

"Don't we have to hack it?" Peter asked Aelita.

"No," she said, "we've already been here. We have its access code, already." Aelita piloted inside the forest sector. The closest tower turned green. Aelita piloted over to it. Red sparks flowed to and from the tower and Skid.

"Disembarking," Aelita said. Alex virtualized above the group as they appeared in the sector.

"Be careful," Alex said to Crystal. "And keep her safe, Odd."

"Teleporting," Jeremie said.

**[Andes mountains, Argentina]**

Crystal and Odd appeared.

"What's it like?" Jeremie asked.

"Couldn't pick a better spot," Odd said sarcastically. They were facing a large, rocky cliff. There was a wide cave about sixty feet into the air.

"It's okay, Jeremie. We can get up there," Crystal said. She twisted her knives in her hands before digging them into the rocks. Odd stuck his claws in and climbed beside her.

**[Lyoko]**

"What do we do, now?" Peter asked.

"Crystal isn't here, so we can't hardly fight each other," William answered.

"Just keep watch," Alex said sitting down on a rock and leaning against his staff. Ulrich looked at Yumi, shrugged, and sat down next to a tree beside her.

**[Andes mountains, Argentina]**

Crystal and Odd rolled into the cave. The inside was steel and looked as if it were well-kept, although no sign of life could be found. Odd aimed down the hall with his wrists and Crystal readied her knives. Their footsteps echoed down the halls.

"Got the holomap, yet?" Crystal whispered.

"Not yet," Jeremie said. "It's downloading."

The wide cave opened into a large, empty hanger, causing their footsteps to echo even louder. The door at the other end opened and closed at regular intervals without anything coming through. When they reached the door, Crystal pulled down a switch causing the door to remain open. They walked through and were in a wide, two way hallway.

"Which way do we go, Jeremie?" Crystal asked.

"I've got the holomap, but it doesn't show where the super computer is. But there is a large room to your left," he responded. They turned and walked down the hall. "Hold up. It's here on your right." Crystal opened it with the switch on its side.

"Jeremie, I don't think this is it," Odd said. Inside the room there were thousands of tiny ants. They all turned to look at them before ticking repeatedly. Crystal hit the switch to close the door, but nothing happened. The ants moved towards the door, clicking their metal feet as they walked. Crystal and Odd ran back down the hall.

"Jeremie, we could sure use some directions!" Odd yelled.

**[Lyoko]**

"Guys," Peter said, "we have some company."

"Make sure they don't hurt the tower too much," Jeremie said. "It will kill the connection between the real world and the Skid."

"They aren't getting past us," Peter said who was already shooting at the monsters the others couldn't see.

"How are the others doing?" Alex asked pulling up his staff and shooting a Kankrolot in the head.

"They're running."

**[Andes mountains, Argentina]**

"Turn right," Jeremie instructed. They both did. Odd turned and tried to shoot at them.

"My laser arrows are to small to hit them," Odd said turning back and running on all fours.

"Aelita would have been able to handle this," Crystal said. "What do we do, Jeremie?"

"I don't know," Jeremie said. "Think of something."

**[Lyoko]**

"Triplicate!" Ulrich yelled. Each of him ran at the forces with both swords prepared. Aelita shot an energy field at a Hornet. Alex teleported at the front lines, deflected a laser, turned around, and put his hands together to lift one of the Ulrichs into the air, which landed on a Krab and stabbed through its shell. Yumi twirled one fan in her hand then threw it through a Blok. Peter shot an arrow through two Hornets. The other two Ulrichs cut through two Bloks. Alex jumped onto a Krab and dug his blade tip into its eye, twisting violently.

**[Andes mountains, Argentina]**

"There is a quarantine shield on your left at the end of this hall," Jeremie said. It was a large breaker switch. Crystal pulled it. Behind them, a large, glass barrier lowered from the ceiling. The ants covered the glass, attacking it, some with their arms, others with their heads.

"Let's keep going," Odd said, "they'll break it in no time." They ran down the hall following Jeremie's directions, again. "Wait!" Odd exclaimed as they passed a glass door. Inside there were large boxes, each labeled 'Highly Explosive'. Odd opened the door and slowly walked inside.

"What is it, Jeremie?" Crystal asked.

"My guess is C4 demolition charges," he told them.

"Keep going," Odd said, "I'll lure them away."

"What?" Crystal asked.

"Neither of our weapons are useful against them, and one of us has to make it to the computer. It'd be best if it were you," he said, still not taking his eyes off of the explosives. She turned and walked towards the door.

"Alex would be thankful," she said quietly. "Devirtualizing yourself for me."

"I know."

**[Lyoko]**

Peter ran at the group, twisting his bow into his scimitars, and spun around, cutting four Bloks in half. Yumi ran at a tree, dodging lasers to her right, ran up it, and jumped to the lowest branch. She spun around the branch, balanced on one hand, and threw a fan at a Hornet. The three Ulrichs jumped into the air to land on Bloks, two of them getting shot and the third blocking the shot. He landed on it and stabbed down onto its side. As the Blok disappeared from beneath him and he fell, the two Bloks to his side turned to face him. Ulrich stuck his swords in the ground to his sides as they fired, deflecting the shots back at the shooters. Aelita waved her hand over her wrist, causing her wings to emerge. She flew above the group, showering Krabs and Bloks with her energy fields. William supersmoked into the air and twisted his sword to cut a Hornet in half. Two Megatanks rolled through the battlefield. They stopped on opposite sides of the tower, opened, and shot one wave each.

"Guys, the tower is already down to half health!" Jeremie called from above. "Don't let that happen again." Alex teleported in front of one, and Ulrich supersprinted to the other. The Megatanks each charged a wave. Ulrich crossed his swords, and Alex gripped his staff firmly. The Megatanks released their waves at the same time. The impact drove them back a few feet, but they held strong.

"Someone come over here and kill these things!" Alex yelled.

"I got it," Yumi said. She jumped down from the tree, landing elegantly, stood up, and pulled back her fan. Before she could release it, a laser hit her in the side of the head from a Krab, devirtualizing her.

"William!" Alex called.

"I'm kinda busy!" William, who had just been knocked against a tree by a Krab and held there without his sword, answered.

"Peter!" Peter twisted his bow back together and aimed at the Megatank Alex was holding. Smoke surrounded his neck, and Dark William held him against a large rock hitting Peter's bow out of his hand with the hilt of his sword.

"Aelita!" Aelita swirled above and aimed an energy field at Ulrich's Megatank. Before she could release it, she was shot in the back by a Hornet, getting rid of her wings and sending her falling. The Hornets chased her down until she was devirtualized. The force of the Megatanks pushed Ulrich and Alex back slowly.

**[Andes mountains, Argentina]**

Odd stood in the middle of the hall, listening to the pounding of metal on glass become steadily louder as the glass cracked. The glass shattered and the sound rang through the hall.

"Crystal! Go in here!" he said to get their attention when they came around the corner. He ran inside and closed the door before climbing up the wall above the door. "Hey, Jeremie. What're the rules for devirtualization here?" The metal started beating on the glass door to get in.

"Theoretically, you should reappear back in the Skid, but I'm not sure," he said. The ants broke the glass and filled the room looking for their targets. Odd shot straight for the center of the C4 boxes.

Crystal stopped for a second in the hall as the sound of the explosion echoed, then continued running.

"There," Jeremie said when she turned at the end of yet another hall. It was a large, metal door with glass panel windows. She opened it with the panel on its side, then, when she was on the inside, threw a throwing knife at the panel. The supercomputer was a large rectangular box in the center of the room with several stations for workers. At the other end of the room there was a large monitor. Crystal sat down at one.

"Sending all data on the hard drive to the supercomputer," she said.

**[Lyoko]**

The force of the Megatank continued to push Alex and Ulrich back towards the tower. Ulrich check behind him cautiously with his foot, hoping to find the tower was solid, but instead, his foot slipped slowly inside. He pushed harder, against the force of the energy field, trying his hardest to hold it.

Peter kneed Dark William in the groin, leaving him bent over. He kicked the sword out of his hand. Dark William stood up and hit Peter back against the tree with a fist to the nose. He turned back and ran for his sword. Peter clambered from the ground after his bow. Peter aimed at Dark William as he reached his sword. He let go of his arrow, but before it made contact, he supersmoked and reappeared with a sword through Peter's gut. Dark William grinned at the others as Peter devirtualized. He supersmoked and appeared at Ulrich's side. He pulled up his sword, but before he could bring it down, a laser arrow went through the back of his skull. Odd stood there, still aiming his wrist at the spot Dark William had been seconds ago. Alex and Ulrich turned to look at him but continued to push against the forces of the waves. Odd shot both the Megatanks in the eyes.

"Thanks, Odd," Ulrich said falling to his knees and putting his swords down.

"How's Crystal?" Alex asked.

**[Andes mountains, Argentina]**

"It's downloaded," Jeremie said. "Now destroy it so you can get out of there." Crystal walked over to the side of the box, opened a panel on the side, revealing dozens of colored wires, and cut them each in half.

**(Alex first person)**

We were sitting in the dorm, watching the news on Jeremie's computer.

"Seismic activity was noticed in Argentina with an epicenter somewhere near the Andes mountains. It wasn't large enough to have caused any damage, and was only discovered by accident, but, since there wasn't a release of energy under the earth's crust, the cause is still unknown."

"Do you think they'll find out?" Peter asked.

"I doubt it," Jeremie said. "The factory hasn't been used in a while, and the factory was made to be hidden, so, unless they plan on sending the army after it, they'll never find out what happened. And a little bit of 'seismic activity' doesn't hardly seem like a job for the military."

"It's lunchtime," Ulrich said looking up from his watch. We walked out the hall and down towards the cafeteria.

"Thanks, Odd," I whispered.


	42. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

**AN: To Olyrik: Yes, XANA could steal data from the others, but that would cause my story to veer from the original story line too much. I'm trying to keep it along the same plot line as the original. Thanks for your reviews and critic. :) **

**(Alex first person)**

I woke up to an empty dorm on Tuesday morning, the next day. I slipped my shoes on and walked down to the cafeteria. Ulrich, Odd, and Peter, the ones sitting on the side of the table facing the door, waved at me. I walked through the line and sat down next to them.

"So, what's the schedule for today?" William asked.

"We still have to go through the data," Aelita said.

"Not to mention, we have math, today," Odd said.

"You all do," Yumi said, "William and I have Gym."

"I just hope the data is useful," Peter said.

"Yeah," Aelita said quietly. "Hopefully it will tell us something about XANA or William's data."

"Personally, I'm hoping for the second one," William muttered so quietly, it seemed I was the only one who heard until Jeremie spoke.

"We'll find it," he said quietly.

"Eventually..." he muttered back. We finished breakfast in silence and walked to our classes. When we arrived at math, I sat down next to Crystal, Jeremie to Aelita, Ulrich to Odd, and Peter sat alone in the row in front of Jeremie.

"Okay, class," Mrs. Meyer said, "today we will be discussing systems of equations using graphs." Most of the class let out a groan, but Jeremie, Aelita, and I began reading.

Fifteen minutes later, the intercom came on.

"Attention!" Mr. Delmas said loudly. "Code blue. I repeat. There is an illegal weapon in the building."

"Everyone in the corner," she said motioning the corner opposite of the door. The class stood and walked over to the corner indicated. Halfway across the room, the door burst open. A man wearing a ski mask pointed a gun at Aelita's face. The others jumped to the ground. I jumped at her, trying to push her out of the way. When Aelita and I landed, however, she let out a scream. I looked at her. The left side of her shirt was filled with blood. Another bullet rang the air, but this one without a scream. I picked up Aelita and jumped out the window, breaking the glass with my shoulder, and landed on the ground. Jeremie carefully shimmied down the window sill. I sat Aelita down on the ground, took my shirt off, and held it to her side.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Math room]**

"You next!" Ulrich yelled turning over a table. Crystal and Peter stood and ran at the window. Crystal did a one-handed handstand on the windowsill before vaulting over and dropping carefully to each other window. Peter slid over the window as another bullet hit the window frame. He grabbed onto the ledge as he started to fall and dropped after Crystal.

"Go," Odd said. He picked up a math book and chucked it at the man at the door. Ulrich bolted for the window but stopped in his tracks, looking out the window. "What are you waiting for?!" he yelled throwing more books.

"V-v-vertigo..." he said. Odd threw another book and ran at Ulrich, putting his arm around his gut and jumping out the window. Ulrich flailed his arms and caught the window ledge beside Odd. He attempted to pull himself back up, but Odd dropped and caught Ulrich's legs, pulling him down as the window splintered from another shot.

Ulrich began breathing fast when Odd and he landed on the ground.

"Call Yumi," Alex said firmly, picking Aelita up onto his shoulder. "Tell her I don't care what Jim says, I want her and William at the factory ASAP."

**[Gymnasium]**

Yumi's phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked at William who moved in between Jim and her. She pulled out her phone slowly.

"Yeah? We're under lockdown, too... Aelita's been what? Okay, Ulrich, we'll be there in a second." She slid her phone back into her pocket slowly. "Aelita's been shot. Alex demands we get to the factory pronto."

"Jim isn't just going to let us leave while we're under lockdown, you know?" William whispered over his shoulder.

Yumi stood with William and they walked to the door.

"Where do you two think you're going?" He asked, or more of yelled, across the room.

"For a walk," William said arrogantly.

"Oh, this reminds me of that time in Vietnam. Charlies were storming the base. But before we knew it Anderson and Kyle decided to go out on their own to hunt dow-" Before he had time to finish his story, Yumi and William ran out the gym door.

**[The Lab]**

Aelita let out a groan of pain as Alex set her down on the floor of the control room.

"What are you doing?!" Odd asked. "Just get her in the scanner!"

"We can't," Jeremie said sitting down at his computer and starting the object materialization. "Ulrich please go get those. If we scan her to Lyoko, the bullet will fuse with her body and she will still feel it on Lyoko. The lead from the bullet could seep into her blood stream." Ulrich rode the elevator back up moments later with a box of surgery equipment. Alex pulled Aelita's shirt up to just below her ribs. "Physical injuries are different. There isn't extra matter in there."

"You know what," Alex said. "We might wanna do this on the scanner floor, so we can put her into the scanner quickly." He picked her up carefully and carried her into the elevator with the others.

He put her down softly next to one of the scanners. He placed a scalpel against the wound which was now bleeding steadily and bruised badly.

"It's only clipped the skin," Alex called above him. "But it's in pretty deep. Ulrich." Alex put his hand out to his side. Ulrich pulled off his shirt and handed it over. Alex pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the box of equipment, poured it onto Ulrich's shirt, and put it to Aelita's side. She let out a call of pain as the alcohol burned her wound clean. "Odd." Odd handed over his shirt. Alex put the shirt to Aelita's mouth, and she bit down on it. Yumi and William arrived in the elevator. They both looked at Aelita in shock. Jeremie rode down the elevator and sat down next to Aelita, offered his hand to Aelita. She took it and gripped tightly.

"Don't worry, Aelita," Jeremie said. Alex pushed the scalpel into the place where the bullet entered her skin, cutting a gash into her skin. Aelita let out a dull whimper as she chewed on Odd's shirt and gripped Jeremie's hand tightly. The scalpel made a small grinding noise.

"Found it," Alex said. Alex pulled a pair of tweezers from the box and put it next to Aelita's gash. He pushed the skin aside with the scalpel and put in the tweezers.

"Crystal, go start the virtualization process," Alex said, still cautiously controlling the tweezers. She ran hurriedly to the elevator. With a small creaking noise, Alex pulled the bullet out of Aelita's side and held it up for everyone to see for a second before placing it on the ground and putting the tools away. Jeremie helped Aelita, still biting on Odd's shirt, to her feet and into the scanner. Odd and Ulrich got inside the other two.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita landed in the ice sector beside Ulrich and Odd. She grabbed her side, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"I can't feel it, Jeremie," she called above her as Alex, Crystal, and Yumi were virtualized.

"Good," he responded. William and Peter fell next to the others. "The tower is south." The OverVehicles spawned. Aelita brushed her hand over her bracelet. William turned into a puff of black smoke. Everyone else mounted their vehicles and drove towards the tower.

"Do you think the man is a spector or XANAfied?" Peter asked from the back of the OverCar.

"Probably a spector," Crystal said. "The doors lock when the school is put on lockdown, and he seemed to be stronger than the average XANAfication."

"And to stupid to run after us," Odd commented.

"I sure hope so," Jeremie said.

"Why?" Ulrich asked. "Wouldn't that be harder to fight?"

"Jeremie, we found the tower," Yumi said. It was a wide, flat area scattered with random rocks and spikes sticking up. Tarantulas, Krabs, and Kankrolots guarded the tower in a random assortment.

"Split up," Alex said pulling right with William behind him. Aelita summoned two energy fields and flew above Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi. Alex stuck his staff out the side of the car, catching a Tarantula in the stomach and smashing it against a rock. Crystal put one knife out her side and stabbed a Kankrolot through its face. Peter turned sideways on the back of the OverCar and shot a Krab through its shell. William appeared for a second and slapped a Kankrolot with the side of his sword into a large rock. Ulrich drove, joust style, at a Tarantula with his sword out in front of him. A Kankrolot shot the OverBike out from below him, launching him forwards. He landed on the Tarantula, stabbing it through the head. A Krab walked over to him and held him on his stomach with its claw. It charged up a laser aimed at his head, but before it fired, Aelita hit it in the head with an energy field. Yumi drove beside him and helped him up to the OverWing.

"A little help, guys?" Odd yelled, who was protecting himself from a circle of enemies with his shield, his overboard destroyed. Yumi drove at the herd, Aelita already shooting two of them. Ulrich jumped off the OverWing, supersprinted through the line behind Odd, cutting the two closest Kankrolots in half, and deflected shots behind him with his swords. Yumi and Aelita began destroying them around him.

"Need help, William?" Crystal, deflecting shots from a Tarantula, asked. William had been disarmed and shot in the chest by a Krab.

"Nah, I got it," he said dodging jump-rolling over a shot and running for his sword. He dove over another shot and landed next to the sword. He supersmoked below the Krab and uppercut the Krab with the tip of his sword.

"How's it going up there, Jeremie?" Alex, twirling his staff behind his head to shoot a Kankrolot, said.

**[The factory]**

The spector with the gun ran across the bridge and jumped down into the factory. He ran to the bridge and hit the button. When the elevator didn't come up, he ran off in search of the other way down.

**[The Lab]**

"He's in the factory," Jeremie said. "I may be able to stop him." He started the object materialization program.

**[Lyoko]**

Peter twirled his staff around, sending dozens of lasers back at their senders. One hit his hand instead of the swiftly spinning blades, causing him to lose grip and drop his bow.

"Capture!" he said, his hands a foot apart, catching all the enemy lasers in between his hands. "Return!" He sent them back, destroying a large number of their forces.

"Aelita! Could you hurry?!" Odd, who was busy dodging shots from three Tarantulas. He jumped over another laser and shot the attacker in the eye. Aelita dived for the tower, but was shot in the leg.

**[The Lab]**

Jeremie took the elevator down to the scanner room. In the middle scanner was the object he once hoped would save his life, but turned out to be a waste of time trying to hide. He picked it up. Above him there was a hard slam, than a bullet shot. Jeremie aimed up the ladder, waiting for his predator to strike from above. The elevator made a moving sound, causing Jeremie to jump and aim at the elevator door. He ran beside the elevator access, hoping to be hidden from view. The elevator opened and the spector jumped out, shooting immediately for the middle scanner, the one Jeremie had been standing in front of moments ago. Jeremie turned and sent a bullet through its head, but instead of turning to a puff of smoke, it dropped to the floor. Jeremie bent down beside it and pulled off the ski mask. Instead of XANA's eyes looking back, there were two dull, glassy, lifeless eyes looking back at him.

"It's not a spector..." Jeremie said quietly dropping the gun carelessly. He backed away slowly and searched for the elevator button while his eyes still rested upon the dead man. When he hit it, he back inside and took the elevator to the control room floor. He ran to the computer, hoping to tell them what happened, but there was a bullet shot through the monitor.

**[Lyoko]**

Alex teleported in front of Aelita, deflecting lasers back at the Krab that shot it. Aelita clambered to her feet and ran into the tower.

**(Alex first person)**

We were sitting in the dorm, watching the news.

"Andrew Byrus was found dead in his own house. His record shows no sign of medical illnesses that could have caused this, and his family life was very well," said a policeman during an interview. "We... still have no sign of what may have caused the death..." Jeremie turned off his computer and rubbed under his eyes.

"It's okay, Jeremie," Aelita said soothingly.

"Is it?" he asked rhetorically. "I just killed someone. A living, breathing person, the one thing we are supposed to stop XANA from doing."

"Jeremie, it was either him, or one of the nine people who know how to counterattack XANA," I said. "You did what you had to do to survive."

"Did I?" he asked. "Are you sure there wasn't some way I could have lived and given Aelita a bit more time?"

"Jeremie," Odd said, "he had a gun! What were you supposed to do? Hide on the ground floor to make him wait an extra ten seconds to kill you?"

"You guys are right, I'm just being stupid," he said stubbornly.

"No you aren't, Jeremie," I said. "XANA is trying to attack us, not only physically, but mentally... Odd's right, you did what you had to do." Jeremie nodded.

"Come on," Ulrich said. "Breakfast."


	43. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

**(Alex first person)**

It was Friday, three days later. The data was being sorted using a program Jeremie, Aelita, Crystal, and I had developed Wednesday. We were all sitting in the dorm watch the program run after classes.

"Anything, Jeremie?" Odd asked.

"Not really," he answered. "Unless we need to make small, metal ants. But it's still going."

"Did you find out why all those explosives were there?" Crystal asked.

"No, but I did find out the computers original purpose."

"What's that?" Ulrich asked.

"Running three dimensional calculus calculations."

"Does that mean anything to us?" William asked. "What does that have to do with XANA?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with XANA, except that he was running a lot of math problems through it."

"What about the hanger?" Odd asked trying to bring up questions that might get farther in the discussion.

"Probably just an easier means of getting in to the facility than climbing the cliff."

"What did he need the ants for?" William asked going along with Odd's question game.

"Probably spy units or something of the sort."

"The point is," I interrupted before Odd could ask another question, "is that we stop XANA before we have to find out what he is up to."

"When are we going to another?" Ulrich asked.

"Tonight. I found one in North America, most likely the United States."

"Are we going right now?" Peter asked.

"After dinner."

"Well, who's going?" William asked.

"Whoever wants." Odd jumped to raise his hand, but Ulrich elbowed him in the side.

"Right now, we are working on a program that can retrieve the data one the two computers some one has connected the two computers," Aelita said. "But for now we will still need someone there who knows how to use the computer."

"How will the new program work?" Yumi asked.

"I will guide someone through the steps to connect the computer from the other end, then I can pull out all the files from it," Jeremie said.

"I'm going," I said causing everyone to look at me. "And I'll take William."

"How do you plan on going?" Peter asked. "You can't see, remember?"

"Pshhh," I said. "I can teleport. And with the object materialization program, I have resources I would need."

"How are you going to teleport there?" Ulrich asked. "You guys said the scan wasn't very accurate."

"Once William appears in the real world, Jeremie will be able to lock in on the coordinates."

"But if one of us gets shot, we appear back in the Skid. If you get shot, you could very well die," Yumi said.

"I know."

"Be careful," Crystal said.

"It's time for dinner," Odd said jumping to his feet. We walked down to the cafeteria and took our seats. A girl, about a grade or two below us, walked up to our table flanked closely by two other girls, each with a stack of papers in their arms. The girl in the middle had a very grim expression on her face.

"Hello..." she said. "My name is Angelina Byrus... We are having a memorial service at ten for my dad, Andrew Byrus... Would you like to come?" She put a piece of paper down on the table. It showed several family shots of the man who attempted to kill Aelita under XANA's control, smiling and hugging his wife and two kids.

"I'm.. sorry... Angelina... But we've kinda got something important to do..." Jeremie said, trying to look away from the paper and not look into the girls eyes.

"Oh, I understand," she said. They walked away to another table. Jeremie slowly started eating his food.

"It's okay, huh?" Jeremie muttered to his plate, not looking up.

"Jeremie, it _is_ okay," Aelita whispered back to him. He didn't respond. We finished our meal and walked to the park. I pulled off the lid to the sewers and climbed in, followed closely by the others. We reached the bottom and grabbed our transportation and rode through the sewers. When we reached the other side, we climbed up and ran across the bridge into the factory. We slid down the ropes and piled into the elevator. Jeremie and I got out in the control room and the others went down to the scanner room.

**(Third person omniscient)**

**[Lyoko]**

Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi landed in the middle of Carthage, followed by Aelita, William, and Crystal, then Peter. They ran through the corridor to the elevator. They stepped off the elevator at the the dock room floor. They each stepped on their energy rings and were teleported inside.

"Undocking," Aelita said.

**[The Lab]**

Alex was in the scanner room, two nine millimeter, ten shot clip pistols in holsters on his waist with an extra clip a piece. Around his shoulder, a sash held an assault rifle with a thirty bullet clip and two extra clips, a laser sight, and a front grip, which dangled at his side. He was loading other 'necessities' into a sack bag.

"How about a couple of smoke grenades?" he asked. The scanners continued to open and close to give Alex what he wanted for the mission.

**[Lyoko]**

Aelita piloted out of the swirling network port and to the bottom of the giant Replika. A beam shot out from the center of the Skid and hit the network gate. Within seconds it was cracked and the group floated inside to the ice sector.

"Docking," Aelita said piloting next to the closest tower. Everyone but William was transfered out.

"Energizing," Jeremie said.

**[The Lab]**

Alex rode the elevator up to the control room.

"I'm closing in on William's position," Jeremie said as Alex put the sack bag around his back. "Aaannnnddd... found it."

"I got it," Alex said before teleporting.

**[Forest, West Washington state]**

Alex appeared next to William.

"So where do you think the lab is?" William asked.

"I don't know," Alex said looking around. Alex began walking with William following behind. "Where ever it is, the people who made it didn't want to be found." They reached a chain link fence with a barbed wire lip at the top, made as if to keep things on the other side out.

"I think we're on the right side," William said adjusting his sword on his shoulder. They walked along the fence until they found a gate with a guard box on the opposite side.

"Yeah, this is the right side," Alex said turning around and looking down a dirt path wide enough for a large truck. Above them, a tree rustled above and a bird let out a short violent noise. A metal block fell from the tree above and landed in front of them. Alex aimed the assault rifle above him. William walked over to it and rolled it over with his sword. It had been, or at least appeared to be, a bird. Two deep, small holes went through the robot birds neck.

"What is it, William?" Alex asked still aiming into the air.

"It looks like a bird..." he responded now looking where Alex was. "Do you think this place is full of them?"

"I doubt XANA would have his bird rage war on each other," Alex said. "And whatever took that one down had to be something fairly larger than the bird. Let's go." William ran ahead of Alex along the path.

**[Lyoko]**

"How are they, Jeremie?" Crystal asked.

"They're still searching for the lab," Jeremie said.

"So what do we do?" Peter said.

"Sparing, anyone?" Odd asked standing up and preparing his wrists.

**[Forest, West Washington state]**

"Wait," William said quietly. He stopped on the path. Alex aimed around for what William had seen. A mechanical deer, stood in the middle of a small field, putting its face to the ground as if to eat the grass. It put its head up, sniffing the air for something it couldn't see. Before it could react, it was plowed to the ground by a large, mechanical bear. Alex looked at it maul the mechanical deer, which grunted and tried to fight back with its feet but with no luck. Alex shot the bear in the side of the head, knocking it from the deer and to the ground. The deer continued to grunt and try to run, bleeding oil from its veins, until it gave a single sigh and stopped. There was a lot of movement behind them.

"Let's go before something serious gets here," Alex said aiming around. William ran ahead holding his sword on his right shoulder. In front of them, they could see the door to the lab, a large silver garage door with yellow caution tape at the bottom. Behind them, a large, metal mountain lion followed followed them, close to the ground as if hunting prey. It jumped through the air, but was met by William's sword in midair. Alex searched the wall for a way to open the door.

"Find anything?" William asked still holding his sword up as mechanical beasts creaked around them.

"Not yet," Alex responded. William turned around and put a huge gash in the door with his sword and turning into a puff of smoke and traveling through it. Alex looked inside and teleported. They were inside a large garage looking room with a short staircase leading to a platform with a door at the other end. Alex turned back and a large metal panther stuck its claws through the door and began Alex pulled a pistol from his holster and shot it in the face. More animals were lining up from the other side of the door waiting for their chance to get in. Alex readied both pistols, aiming at the door.

"Jeremie, how is the holomap coming along?" Alex asked.

"Just a minute," he responded. A metal bear stuck its paws through the door and pulled on the metal, bending out from the force. Alex shot again, sending a bullet through its head.

"We can't wait here," Alex said. He put both pistols in his holster and ran through the garage and up the staircase. He turned around and shot the mechanical wolf trying to rip open the door with his assault rifle. William opened the door and they ran right down the hall.

"Where do we go?" William asked.

"We search for the computer manually until Jeremie gives us some directions." Behind them the sound of metal smashing on the ground. "That was quicker than I expected," Alex said looking back as they ran. They turned right down the next hall and left the first chance they got. It was a dead end hall with only one door.

"We have to go back," William said. They turned around only to see a large panther stalking them. William charged it and brought his sword down upon its head. Instead of dying simply like the others, it let out a loud beep that rang through the halls. Alex and William ran the rest of the way down the hall, hoping to get to another hall, but were instead met by a large group of animals. Alex pulled up his assault rifle and sprayed at them with bullets, which took out the front row, but the ones in the back crouched behind the ones that were already shot. They ran back for the room, Alex still shooting behind him. William opened it and they hurried inside. It was a supply room filled with boxes. Alex sat down on one and began changing clips in his guns.

"What are we going to do?" William asked turning his sword to smoke in his hand. Alex looked up for a minute, still changing clips with his hands.

"Hold on a sec," he sat the gun down and meditated. William looked at him perplexed.

"Why didn't you just do tha-" he asked.

"Shh..." Alex said. William continued to look at him oddly. "I can't teleport into the room." he said continuing to change clips. The robots began bashing the door.

"Why not?"

"Because this facility is set up so that if an intruder gets into the computer room without access from the panel outside the door, every door in here is going to open up and a siren will go off."

"How do you know that?"

"I told you guys, I see everything." The robots continued ramming into the door.

"Why don't you just teleport to the panel, then?"

"It's going to take time to hack the system's password. I'm going to need time."

"What do you suggest we do?" Alex looked back up for a second in thought. He pulled the bag off his back and opened it up. He pulled a small, blue tube-like object with a switch and a button near the top from inside.

"What's that?"

"EMP grenade. I brought it in case there was something small like the ants, but now seems like a good time to use it." He put the bag back on his back and picked up the EMP grenade and walked beside the door. William walked to the other side and formed his sword in his hand. Alex put one hand on the door handle and set the switch in his other hand. He slowly put his hand on the button and opened the door. A mechanical lion jumped in though the door way, only to be met by William's sword as it turned. Alex rolled the EMP out the door, and shut it. A ringing started quietly but then slowly increased, then stopped abruptly. Alex opened the door and shot at the stunned robots. William supersmoked around the door and began cutting them, too. Alex pulled his backpack around and pulled out a grenade.

"Let's go," he said pulling the pin and dropping it. William turned into smoke. Alex looked down the hall and teleported to the end, then the end of that one. The grenade went off, echoing down the halls.

"Do you think we got 'em all?" William asked appearing and running instead of using his supersmoke.

"I doubt it," Alex said. "The ones outside who weren't in on the chase will have heard now." They reached a metal door with a large box on the left side. Alex kneeled down, pulled open his bag, and got out a box with several wires. He matched one up to the box on the wall and plugged it in. The box lit up and started running numbers through its screen. A mechanical snake slithered around the corner, sticking out a metal tongue to vibrate in the air.

"It's not worth attracting the attention," Alex said, relaxing his hand instead of grabbing his sidearm. "Could you get that for me?" William ran over and cut the snake's head off from its jaw up. The device in Alex's hand beeped and the screen of the wall panel turned green. The door slid open. Alex put the device back in the bag and walked through the door. The room was square with several workstations along the walls. Alex walked over to one and sat down.

"How long is this going to take?" William asked.

"Just a minute. I am, after all, faster than Aelita or Crystal." The computer beeped in a matter of seconds, indicating the file transfer.

"Now how do we kill the computer?" William asked.

"There," Alex said pointing to the middle computer, "is a panel. Cut the wires." William walked over to it, slid over the panel, and stuck his sword inside, twisting it around to cut the insides apart. He phased out, back to Lyoko. Alex teleported back to the factory.

**(Alex first person)**

We were in the dorm. My bag and weapons were stored at the factory. Jeremie was sitting in front of his computer.

"What was with all of those robotic animals?" William asked.

"I'm not sure," Jeremie said typing at his computer, "but i'm adding the data to the program to sort through."

"Has the first batch of data gone through, yet?" Odd asked.

"Not yet, but it's almost done," he said.

"What time is it?" Peter asked.

"Nine fifty," Ulrich said. "Why?"

"I'm going to the memorial service," he said standing up. Jeremie, still typing at his computer, tensed up a bit. Peter, understanding what he said had upset him, walked out hastily.


	44. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

**AN: To Olyrik: It's funny you mentioned '****a new member or a program Jeremie creates that had the ability to possess XANA's monsters', because I was thinking the **_**exact**_** same thing.**

**(Peter third person limited)**

**[10 o'clock that night, the memorial service]**

Peter stood at the back of the crowd as Angelina gave a speech on stage, talking about how great her father was as a parent and a family member. When the speech was over, there was a table of food for people to have, donated by the family. Peter walked over and poured himself a cup of punch, then looked at the wall where pictures were assorted in showing Andrew Byrus's life.

"He was great," Angelina said, walking over to him. Peter jumped a little bit in the surprise.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she responded.

"Where are your friends?" he asked her looking around, expecting her to be flanked by them.

"Who? Oh, you mean Cassandra and Olivia?"

"I guess."

"Oh, they're not my friends," she said quickly. "As a matter-of-fact, I'm not even sure who either of them are. They just volunteered to help me pass out flyers."

"Oh…" Peter and Angelina walked along the wall looking at the pictures on the wall. Eventually, they both sat down on a bench. They talked the rest of the night, even when the others had left the gym to go back to their dorms.

**(Alex first person)**

Jeremie and I woke up the next day, Saturday. The others would start filling the room before long. Peter was the first to arrive.

"Hey, guys, you know that Angelina girl?" he asked, skipping the part of the conversation where we say 'Hey, Peter'.

"Yeah," Jeremie said. "What about her?"

"Turns out she's in our grade."

"No she isn't," I said. "I'd have recognized her."

"That's exactly what I thought, too, but you know the shy girl that sits at the back of math class?"

"That's her?" Jeremie asked.

"Yep."

Aelita and Crystal came in next.

"But she's a really nice person."

"Who is?" Aelita asked.

"Angel."

"She lets you call her Angel?" Odd asked standing in the doorway next to Ulrich, Yumi standing behind him.

"Yeah," Peter responded turning around. He grinned a bit. "We, umm, kinda have a date set for tonight…"

"Congratulations," Ulrich said. Everyone took their seats, save William who had yet to show up.

"Where's William?" Ulrich asked.

"Probably still asleep," Peter said.

"Why?" I asked. "He gets up the same time everyday."

"I might have waken him up when I came back last night."

"What time did you go to bed?"

"I don't know. Maybe three?"

"Three?" I asked. "You talked to her for almost five hours and you _kinda_ have a date set for tonight?" William walked in and yawned.

"Have fun last night?" he asked Peter. Peter grinned back at him.

"Yes."

"How's the data, Jeremie?" William asked.

"From the first one, nothing we didn't already have from Carthage. From the second one, nothing yet." Peter sat down on the bed next to me and started to talk about Angel. After a while he paused.

"Jeremie... Do you think Angel could join the group?" Jeremie's hands slammed wrong on the keys, causing a loud noise to come from them. "I- I'm sorry, I just thought-"

"Peter, do you know what would happen if we just went around telling people?" Jeremie said turning around in his chair.

"I know, it's just that-"

"Hold on, Jeremie," I interrupted. "We all need someone to confide in."

"Are you serious?" he asked, turning to me.

"I confide in Crystal, you confide in Aelita, Ulrich confides in Yumi, William confides in his dreams - not the best idea, I might add - and Odd," I grinned, "who do you confide in?"

"I don't have anyone to confide in," he said looking away.

"Odd," I said.

He sighed. "Kiwi..." Most of the group laughed.

"The point is, Peter needs someone to talk to." Jeremie gaped at me.

"You want us to just give out our secret?" he asked.

"Not give it out. How about this: you, Aelita, Crystal, and I will go with them on their date and find out if we can trust her." Jeremie considered it for a minute.

"Fine," he said. "Peter, go find out if she would mind us taking you two to dinner and a nice restaurant."

"Got it." He walked out of the room.

"Why can't I have a girl friend join the group?" Odd asked after a minute.

"Because if we invited every girl you ever dated into the group, we would spend an hour virtualizing everyone," Ulrich said with a smile. About five minutes later, the door opened.

"Hey, everyone," Peter said holding the hand of Angel.

"Hi," Angel said quietly but with a smile, none the less. She had a very light voice.

"Everyone, this is Angel," Peter said. Everyone waved, smiled, or said hello back.

"This is a lot of people," Angel said, still using a very soft voice. "Do you always hang out with this many people, Peter?"

"Now I do," Peter said.

"I've never had any friends," she said. I expected her face to become desolate, but instead she remained smiling, as did Peter.

"Did you ask her, Peter?" I asked.

"Ask me what?" she asked looking up at Peter.

"Alex, Jeremie, Aelita, and Crystal have invited us to dinner with them tonight," Peter said. "Would you mind?"

"No, not at all." She turned and smiled at the room again. "It'd be fun!"

"Great," Crystal said. "How's tonight at eight?"

"Good for me." She smiled widely. "Are you guys going to breakfast now?"

"Yes," Aelita said. Everyone stood up and we walked down the hall to the cafeteria. We walked through the line and pulled up an extra chair to our table.

Ten hours later, Jeremie and I knocked on Aelita and Crystal's dorm door. They answered just as Peter and Angel came down the hall, both of them smiling.

"I'm really excited," Angel said. We walked outside towards the gate. "Where are we going?"

"Do you know the place in the middle of town?" Jeremie asked.

"The really nice restaurant?"

"Yeah."

"But I thought you had to have reservations," she said looking at us. Jeremie and I just smiled.

We arrived at the restaurant and walked inside to the counter. A man stood there holding a book.

"Table for six," Jeremie said.

"Excuse me, sir?" the man said.

"Six," Jeremie repeated very clearly

"Are you aware you must have a reservation?"

"Of course, I am."

"Well, there are currently no reservations for six, sir."

"Well, I have papers that say otherwise." He pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to the man.

"When were these reservations made?"

"Exactly one month ago."

"A mon-" Angel started but was hushed by Peter.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we do not currently have any tables open for six people." Jeremie reached into his pocket and pulled out a note.

"What is your name?" The man looked apprehensively at the note.

"Er-Austin Statin." Jeremie started writing on the note.

"And the name of your manager." The man stared wide-eyed at the note then turned quickly to a group of people.

"Davidson! Garrison! Get these six a table this instant!" The two men walked quickly to the other room and began to pull tables together. Jeremie smiled, slid the note back into his pocket, and pulled out a twenty Euro bill.

"Very good," he said placing the bill in front of him. We all walked to the next room and sat down at the table. A waiter walked to our table.

"What would you like to drink?"

"I think water would suffice for all of us," I said.

"And to eat?"

"I'll take the largest steak you have," I told him.

"I'll just take a salad," Angel said when the order arrived at her.

"We have plenty of money," I told her. "Get whatever you want."

Our orders came and we each began to eat.

"Why did you guys have a table for six for a month?" Angel asked. "Oh, am I in someone else's seat?"

"No," Peter said. "That seat was planned for you."

"Oh, okay," she said smiling widely.

"I hope you don't mind if we ask you some questions," I said.

"Oh, no, not at all," she said. "Peter's already asked so many."

"Umm, have you ever taken any martial arts classes?"

"Oh, yes. My mother made me take one for self defence."

"Which martial art?

"Judo."

"And how far did you get in the program?"

"Brown belt."

"Were you unable to continue for black belt?"

"What do you mean?"

"He means why didn't you get your black belt," Crystal said.

"Oh, I broke my ankle during a practice session so my mom didn't make me take it anymore."

"Have you ever killed anything?" Jeremie asked.

"Well, my dad and I used to go hunting sometimes, if that's what you mean."

"Can you drive?" I asked.

"Cars, you mean? Well, my dad gave me lessons, so I guess."

"Who would you say is your closest friend?"

"Probably, Peter." She leaned against him, smiling.

"And past him?"

"Probably you guys." I looked at Jeremie out of the corner of my eye, to see him looking back the same way.

"Are you able to keep secrets?"

"Oh, yes, very well."

"Would you be willing to jump in front of a bullet to save someone?"

"I guess, if it came to something like that." I looked at Jeremie, Aelita, and Crystal. They all smiled and shrugged.

"Well, that's all I've got," I said. "Let's eat."

**(Peter third person limited)**

An hour later, Peter was walking Angel back to her dorm holding hands.

"Those were very odd questions, Peter," she said very airy. "What were they about?" They stopped in front of her dorm.

"Jeremie... is very... questioning."

"You mean you think he might not trust me? Why not?"

"I didn't say that. It's just... complicated."

"You can tell me." She held his other hand, looking up into his eyes. Peter smiled at her.

"I'm sure I will tomorrow, but right now it's getting late." She smiled. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

**(Alex first person)**

Peter walked into the dorm. Aelita, Crystal, Jeremie and I were the only ones there.

"What do you guys think of her?" he asked.

"She's very nice," I said.

"She may be a good warrior," Crystal said.

"And it doesn't seem she has any reason or anybody to tell our secret," Jeremie said.

"So..."

"We'll tell her tomorrow," Jeremie said.

"Thank you, Jeremie," Peter said walking to the door.

"We just can't tell her about her father."


End file.
